States pursue roundabout rules for trucks

State lawmakers in multiple states are pursuing action to improve safety in roundabouts.

The states of Indiana, Washington and Wisconsin have acted in recent years to address concern about how to maneuver with large trucks through the increasingly popular traffic pattern.

Roundabouts have grown in popularity around the country in recent years following the U.S. Department of Transportation backing their installation to slow traffic and reduce the frequency of severe wrecks. In fact, state departments of transportation report that intersections converted to roundabouts show a 75% decrease in injury crashes and a 90% decrease in fatal crashes.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety supports the traffic design.

Arizona

Following in the footsteps of the three states, one Arizona House bill would give large trucks permission to use two lanes to navigate through circular intersections, including roundabouts.

Truck drivers would be authorized to “deviate from the lane in which the operator is driving” as the vehicle approaches a roundabout.

Sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman David Cook, R-Globe, the bill would apply the rule to trucks with a total length of at least 40 feet or a total width of at least 10 feet.

Advocates say the change would allow trucks to straddle lanes approaching a roundabout. They add that the traffic maneuver is intended to help ensure vehicles do not attempt to pass while a large truck is navigating through the traffic pattern.

Additionally, operators of smaller vehicles would be required to yield the right-of-way to large trucks when approaching or driving through roundabouts. The rule would apply when the driver of the smaller vehicle is driving through the traffic pattern at or near the same time or “so closely in time as to present an immediate hazard.”

The rule would also apply for operators of large trucks. Specifically, the truck operator on the right would be required to yield to the truck driven on the left.

Signs notifying travelers that “trucks have right-of-way in roundabout” would be required to be posted at all roundabouts.

The bill, HB2288, is in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Colorado

A Colorado House bill includes much of the same language as the Arizona bill.

The Colorado version introduced by Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, does not include a requirement for signage to notify travelers about yielding the right-of-way to trucks.

A monetary penalty is included for failure to adhere to the rule. Specifically, violators would face fines up to $81.

The bill, HB1014, is scheduled for a House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee hearing on Feb. 1.

Indiana

The Indiana truck rule for roundabouts has been in place since 2017.

At the time, elected officials in the Hoosier State cited communication with professional drivers for pursuing the rule.

One Senate bill addresses concerns about how the state decides where to construct roundabouts.

Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, is behind a bill to make sure locals get their say before the traffic pattern is added.

His bill would prohibit the Indiana Department of Transportation from planning or constructing a roundabout until the agency has received input and approval from a local governing board that has control over the intersection or junction where the roundabout would be located.

The bill, SB352, is in the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee. LL

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