Owatonna Police Say STOP Driving OVER the Roundabout
Roundabouts are meant to improve traffic flow through intersections, not just to be a speed bump. The Owatonna Police Department (OPD) has made many traffic stops at the Rose and Grove roundabout of "drivers traveling OVER the roundabout rather than around it." The department also reports 13 accidents have occurred there.
In their Just the Facts e-newsletter, the OPD says, "You'll notice a traffic barrel has been placed over the center of the island-the placement is a reminder that drivers should not be driving straight through the intersection."
The police department offers the following reminders from the Minnesota Department of Transportation regarding navigation of roundabouts.
- "Slow down when approaching a roundabout
- Traffic entering the roundabout yields to the traffic already in the roundabout. Merge into the flow when it is safe.
- Yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
- Continue through the roundabout until you reach your exit-don't stop or pass in a roundabout."
Personally, I am a fan of roundabouts. In my travels around the state covering sports, I have gone smoothly and quickly through intersections that previously were a big slow down otherwise. I see people waiting too long to enter a roundabout sometimes. And occasionally exiting from the wrong lane or cutting across lanes.
Check out the following roundabout stories.
- Turn signal, or not, in a roundabout?
- Roundabout opens in Wanamingo.
- Rose and Grove roundabout construction and MnDOT input.
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