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The Truth About Roundabouts: Are They Safer or More Dangerous?

People across the globe are reluctant to make changes and it is harder to see that something will benefit them if they have not seen personal evidence. For these and other reasons, people in California and across the United States have been slow to adopt traffic roundabouts. Is this a good or a bad thing? Keep reading to find out if they could make us safer or cause more car accidents.

Looking at roundabouts in North Carolina

Many cities across the country are starting to test out roundabouts – including many in North Carolina. What local experts have witnessed is that the number of car accidents at roundabouts are higher than the number of accidents at traffic lights – but that is only part of the story.

The rest of the story is that while the number of accidents may rise, the seriousness of them goes down dramatically. In fact, the number of fatal car accidents at roundabouts is close to zero while most fatal car accidents happen at traffic lights than anywhere else. Roundabout accidents almost never even lead to serious injuries so the real question is this: Is it worth it to have more accidents if it results in many fewer deaths?

Look at one particular roundabout

To better understand this issue on a micro level, let us consider one particular roundabout. It is located at a rural intersection in North Carolina. It is notoriously dangerous and was the location of a deadly accident in 2011. In that accident, a 24-year-old woman and her 21-year-old pregnant sister were hit by a man who ran the red light in his pickup truck.

The younger sister died as a result of her injuries and the older sister continues to have serious long-term issues – including memory problems – that prevent her from working. After the accident happened, the county took action by adding signs warning that a traffic light was coming up. There were not reported fatalities after the signs were put up but there were two accidents within a year that resulted in serious injuries.

The cost of the roundabout was $1.2 million but officials expect that it is going to reduce injuries by 89%, which can save more than $2.5 million in yearly costs associated to accidents at that single location.

The jury is out: How would you vote?

Do you think that it is worth it to add expensive roundabouts? What about now that you know that they actually increase car accidents even though they reduce fatalities? At Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas we believe that many steps can be taken in conjunction with each other to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities. We also believe that if you were injured in an accident, that you deserve qualified legal representation. That is what you will find when you call us at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.