Handle highway=mini_roundabout the same way as junction=roundabout during routing
  • Vote Up0Vote Down RobRob

    Currently the osm node highway=mini_roundabout is being handled as a normal junction instead of a roundabout during routing with osm maps in Germany. But this is confusing since the instruction given, e.g. "turn
    left", is somewhat wrong and should be e.g. "enter the roundabout and
    take the 2nd exit".

    Note that a "mini_roundabout" is not necessary small; in fact it can be quite large. See the osm wiki page for more details.


  • 11 Comments sorted by
  • Vote Up1Vote Down OldieOldie
    Oh god, 53 pages on mini roundabouts. Some countries will bearly understand, that this may constitute a "problem". Let's be happy that we have the time to discuss such problems and not the need to look for sufficient food, clean water, paved roads etc. etc.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down DurkoDurko
    give an example , GPS or link to mini_roundabount
  • Vote Up0Vote Down krzakrza
    https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/359092
    https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/21764086

    There are many of them. Some similar roundabouts were mapped as "real" roundabout though.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down tomastomas
    mini roundabout is painted circle on tarmac and I think that non-roundabound commands are fine
    real roundabout should not be marked as mini roundabout

  • Vote Up0Vote Down hvdwolfhvdwolf
    a mini-roundabout is often enough more than a painted circle, but it is never very big.
    I think though that they should be treated as roundabouts.

    When going straight on you can traverse the inner (painted) circle. Standard "going straight on" commands shouldn't be an issue.

    However, a mini-roundabout is definitely not intended to drive up onto the (painted) circle, stop there (for upcoming traffic), and go left or right (depending on the country). In those cases you should not "turn left" or "turn right", but you should use it as a roundabout and  "enter the roundabout and take the X th exit".

    The current instruction set is in this case indeed confusing and I don't think that "non-roundabound commands are fine".
    Of course the driver is always responsible but I can't imagine that a navigation app maker will deliberately give wrong commands.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down tomastomas
    not sure how mini roundabout is defined in other countries, but in the UK it is painted circle, sometimes slightly raised
    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561491/mini-roundabouts-report.pdf

    turn left or turn right is guidance, it is not meant to indicate structure of a road feature
    for example
    http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=File:Tiny_mini_roundabout_1_(Perth)_-_Coppermine_-_4701.JPG
    in my view, it is better to hear 'turn right', then 'roundabout take third exit'

    of course, it is just my opinion
  • Vote Up0Vote Down hurdygurdymanhurdygurdyman
    Whatever the kind of roundabout is it:
    For me the spoken information "Roundabout. Take ... exit." is usefull. So I know, what's coming up forward and how to drive there. Adviced "turn..." I expect a normal junction like a cross or T-junction.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down hvdwolfhvdwolf
    I agree. The document @Tomas attached makes that even more clear where they draw how a car "should" use the roundabout.

    The example image @Tomas attached is indeed so small that it almost asks you to go straight on. However, those specific examples are also described in the document where  they discuss mini roundabouts designed with not enough space and in which risks and complications that results. 

    Also the last question in the "questions-answers" section of the document 
    "Are vehicles allowed to drive over the
    central island?    " 
    gets the following answer 
    "Yes, but only vehicles that are physically incapable
    of manoeuvring around the central island. See
    Highway Code, RTA 1988 Sect 36 & TSRGD
    16(1). Drivers of vehicles that can manoeuvre
    around the central island are in danger of being
    prosecuted if they drive across it"

    For me that makes it even more clear that mini roundabouts should be treated as roundabout and not as junction.

  • Vote Up0Vote Down john_percyjohn_percy
    To my mind, a mini roundabout needs the simple directions already available in the config files, "Roundabout. Turn right" (or similar). The key difference is that you don't drive around a large island counting exits but identify where you are going before you approach the mini roundabout. At the same time, it is helpful to know that you are not approaching a standard junction.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down daneeldaneel
    Is there some config change I can make somewhere that will make MapFactor (Android) treat mini roundabouts the same as normal roundabouts?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Jochen_KJochen_K
    @daneel
    That would indeed be great - there is a largeish mini roundabout just a few hundred metres from my home; it's certainly big enough to feel like the „real thing” - just without grass/bushes/artwork/whatever, and I find it rather annoying that it is treated as if the intersection it replaced [so that a set of traffic lights could be removed] were still there.
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