High Kerbs at Roundabouts

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 19 Dec 2003 21:51
High Kerbs at Roundabouts - BobbyG
Have noticed that more and more roundabouts in my area seem to be getting "protected" by these high set concrete kerbs that are possibly, say 2 feet or so high.

My question is - are these built to protect the pavement at all cost - I know from personal experience what damage these can do to a car at a slow speed, at a fast speed I reckon they would rip the whole axle off!!

My dad, whilst driving in France, misjudged the slip road off a roundabout, was only in second gear in his Peugeot 306, and his inside wheel clipped the kerb. If this had been a crash barrier
a. He would have seen it better and
b. His car would have suffered some scrapes down the wing.

Instead the wheel hit the kerb and was pushed back into the engine bay damaging various parts of bodywork and engine, and triggering all the airbags!

What are the accident statistics etc for these kerbs, do they absorb energy just like crash barriers? Does the car bodywork remain untouched - but apart from its chassis?
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Sat 20 Dec 2003 02:29
High Kerbs at Roundabouts - Rob the Bus {P}
BobbyG,

Round these parts we have rather fearsome traffic islands. They are about eighteen inches high and consist of a steel edging infilled with concrete. Hit one of these and you'll know about it!

I can't really understand why they need to be so substantial, but then I don't have the brain patterns needed to be a council traffic engineer!

Cheers

Rob
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Sat 20 Dec 2003 03:21
Low Kerbs at Roundabouts - L'escargot
The silliest roundabouts are those that are either just painted on the ground or are about the height of a fried egg. Who takes any notice of those?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Sat 20 Dec 2003 10:43
High Kerbs at Roundabouts - SteveH42
There is a roundabout I use each day on the way to work that has pretty high concrete kerbs, complete with plenty of scrape marks. What I find most worrying is that you encounter a large number of drivers who consider roundabouts to be a straight line here, yet when you are on the inside you tend to like to keep a goodly gap from the 'barrier' to make sure you don't hit it... I've started intentionally hanging back from other cars just to make sure I don't get pushed over on to it these days - at least with a normal kerb you have more of an exit route when you encounter an idiot.
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