To the Editor:
I read your article showing the number of accidents at roundabouts, and suggest a closer look at the subject.
If you research the statistics of state traffic safety issues, you will see that roundabouts have SUBSTANTIALLY fewer accidents than stop sign or traffic light intersections.
Now, don’t shoot the messenger, but check, and you will see it varies somewhat by state, but the easiest one to interpret is the state of Washington, which showed a 37 percent reduction in overall collisions, a 75 percent reduction in injury collisions, a 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions, and a 40 percent reduction in pedestrian injuries. The pedestrian statistic isn’t useful because we don’t have pedestrian traffic on our roundabouts.
I took a safe driver course recently from AARP, and was told of similar statistics, and I did not believe them, so I did my own research, and yep, it is true.
Also, in addition to being safer, it saves considerable gasoline – no sitting at idle and wasting gasoline.
By the way, I recommend that safe driver course. A good investment of $25.
Glen Moyer
Village of Pinellas