A recent editorial in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette argued that new roundabouts installed on Arkansas-112 will help make intersections safer for local drivers.
Roundabouts have been installed at intersections throughout the United States in the past several years. Proponents agree that the design is safer to navigate than a traditional intersection. But what do the numbers say? We take a deep dive into the research and statistics on roundabout safety.
How Do You Drive in a Roundabout?
At a traditional intersection, two roads cross one another. Drivers on one or both roads must stop to allow traffic to pass on the other road. Over the years, a range of options – from stop signs to computerized traffic lights – have been developed to manage the flow of traffic and tell which drivers to stop or go.
Roundabouts are designed to keep traffic moving. A roundabout uses a circular design to guide traffic through the intersection. Cars approaching the roundabout yield the right of way to cars already in the circle.
Most roundabouts are designed to prevent cars from traveling more than about 20 miles per hour in urban areas and 35 miles per hour in rural settings, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This design also forces drivers to slow down as they enter the roundabout and to look for other vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists in or near the roundabout.
Roundabouts range in size from single-lane intersections to large, multi-lane setups. In larger roundabouts, traffic signs and signals help drivers select the correct lane, maintain their speed, and remain attentive to traffic as they enter and exit.
Not all intersections are good candidates for a roundabout, notes the IIHS. In some places, there’s just not enough space to set up a roundabout. When a main road crosses a small side street, a roundabout can cause more problems for side-street traffic than it solves. In these locations, a traffic signal may work more efficiently.
Driving Safety and Crash Statistics in Roundabouts
Studies of roundabout safety regularly find a reduction in all collisions when a roundabout replaces an intersection with traffic lights or stop signs. Some studies find even bigger decreases in the rate of crashes that cause serious injuries.
- One study of roundabouts installed in the United States found that total crash numbers dropped by up to 47 percent at some intersections, while injury-causing crashes decreased by up to 80 percent.
- Roundabouts at high-speed rural intersections may save even more lives: in a 2012 study, intersections of roads with speed limits of 40 miles per hour or more saw a 62 percent drop in all crashes and an 85 percent drop in injury crashes when regular intersections were replaced with roundabouts.
- One study estimates that if 10 percent of the US’s intersections in 2023 were replaced with roundabouts, about 50,000 crashes would have been prevented, 32,000 injuries would never have happened, and 290 lives would have been saved.
Studies show that multi-lane roundabouts still have higher crash rates than single-lane roundabouts. However, these intersections still see decreases in injury-causing and fatal crashes. Collisions in multi-lane roundabouts also tend to decrease over time as local drivers become accustomed to navigating the roundabout.
Where Roundabout Safety Requires More Attention
Despite improvements in traffic injury and death rates, roundabouts don’t automatically mean more safety for everyone on the road. Risks that still appear at roundabouts include:
- Single-vehicle crashes. Cars entering a roundabout too fast are more likely to run onto the median or lose control, hitting another vehicle, pedestrian, or bicyclist.
- Pedestrians and bicyclists. Some studies show lower risks of pedestrian collisions at roundabouts. However, risks remain. Drivers focused on the traffic within a roundabout may not spot a pedestrian preparing to cross at a crosswalk in the roundabout. Some roundabouts lack adequate signs or markings for pedestrians, especially in rural areas. These can be confusing for pedestrians and drivers alike, increasing the risk of a collision.
- Poor design or lack of training can lead to truck crashes. A roundabout’s tight turns are intended to slow down traffic – but they can be difficult for large trucks to navigate. Even when a roundabout is designed to accommodate tractor-trailers and other large vehicles, drivers need the right training to understand how to use the roundabout without drifting into adjacent lanes and risking a collision.
If you’re injured in a roundabout or other crash, speak to an experienced Benton County car accident attorney today. The team at the Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield can help.
