[Tagging] Deprecating mini_roundabout

[Richard Fairhurst]

Florian Lohoff wrote:
> From the document you mention i have the feeling that that is a 
> British special.

It is, pretty much. Plus a few in places heavily influenced by British
practice (Ireland and Hong Kong), and also France as Philip says.

The Wikipedia description actually puts it quite well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Mini-roundabouts .
"Mini-roundabouts use the same right-of-way rules as standard roundabouts,
but produce different driver behaviour."

In other words, though you have to give way to traffic already on the
roundabout (like a normal one), two factors combine to make people treat it
more like a normal junction. The small size means that it doesn't take long
to traverse, and you're more likely to encounter traffic approaching than
actually crossing it. Second, the design of approaching roads is intact
(there's little 'flaring'), which suggests facto priority for the major
roads - even though all approaches in theory have equal priority, in
practice the major road is usually dominant. It's much more like a US
four-way stop than a full roundabout, but UK Government guidance (rather
annoyingly) advises against four-way stops and there are very few in the UK.

I think the best suggestion in this case would be to update the
documentation, particularly in translated pages, clarifying that the tag is
intended for the formal mini-roundabout design as found in the UK, Ireland,
France etc., and not for any flat roundabout.

Richard



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