Why not a Roundabout?

The most direct route from Dublin, in the east, to Sligo in the northwest of Ireland begins with the M4, a fast, modern motorway much like Interstate 95 (except for the terrors of entering and exiting and driving on the left).  Then to state highway N4, much like Massachusetts Route 140, sometimes four lanes, but mostly two. In less than three hours, one can transit from the shores of the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic, traversing verdant farm fields, rolling hills, and charming villages in between. This is Ireland.

There are a few traffic signals (red lights), in the larger towns, but mostly you will encounter roundabouts at intersections.

To the typical New Englander, this reference to circular intersections raises horrific specters of Neponset Circle and the Sagamore Rotary. But rotaries and traffic circles are not roundabouts.

Traffic circles and rotaries (we will say rotary from here on) tend to be very large – several hundred feet in diameter. And because of their relatively large size, the speed of traffic into and through the rotary tends to be fairly high. Couple this with drivers unfamiliar with rotary etiquette and you have a recipe for disaster. No wonder that we hate things circular.

But roundabouts are different. The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) likes roundabouts.  According to them, “A roundabout is a type of circular intersection, but is quite unlike a neighborhood traffic circle or large rotary.  Roundabouts have been proven safer and more efficient than other types of circular intersections.”

Roundabouts are safer because they are smaller. A roundabout can fit in the space of many existing intersections, requiring little if any additional land. Very importantly, the speed through the roundabout is low, 15-20 miles per hour.  The FHA, again, says that “roundabouts REDUCE the types of crashes where people are seriously hurt or killed by 78-82% when compared to conventional stop-controlled and signalized intersections.”

According to the experts, roundabouts are safer and more esthetically pleasing than signalized intersections. What else might they offer?

In addition to safety, roundabouts improve traffic flow and reduce delays . According to Wikipedia, “Under many traffic conditions, a roundabout operates with less delay than signalised or all-way stop approaches. Roundabouts do not stop all entering vehicles, reducing both individual and queuing delays. Throughput further improves because drivers proceed when traffic is clear without waiting for a signal to change.”

Now we can add ecological benefits – roundabouts reduce delays and wasted emissions significantly. When considering all of these benefits, (by the way including increased pedestrian safety), why aren’t roundabouts more widely used?  In New England, certainly, part of the problem is that we have been traumatized by horrific rotaries and traffic circles, tainting the reputation of any circular traffic control approach.

And in addition, there is simply a great amount of ignorance regarding how to negotiate a roundabout. The FHA, again: “Still, because they may be unfamiliar to most people, successful implementation of a roundabout requires extra outreach and education.” This is a problem that can be solved.

With all of this in mind, it makes one wonder why the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SPREDD) is recommending adding traffic signals to the intersection of Route 123 and North and South Worcester streets in Norton (Attleboro Sun Chronicle, September 9). Traffic is heavy enough, and dangerous enough, that some improvement is required. But let’s compare, for a moment, the relative merits of a traffic signal versus a roundabout.

A traffic signal would have the following characteristics:

-          More dangerous than a roundabout (additional and more serious accidents)

-          Higher risk to pedestrians

-          Poorer traffic flow; greater delays

-          Worse ecological impact; greater emissions

Why in the world would we intentionally choose such a solution? Building a roundabout instead would offer the opposite of each of the above ills. Safer to all, improved traffic flow, reduced delays, and more friendly to the environment. Global warmists would rejoice. Roundabouts should be at the top of the list for all of our intersection improvement projects.

But perhaps, at root, Massachusetts progressives are not so progressive after all.

Human lives, intersected

On Sunday, a jogger running on Route 44 was struck and seriously injured by an Attleboro woman. Here is a pertinent passage in the Sun Chronicle’s story:  “…the jogger was running westbound when he was struck. The vehicle that struck him was also traveling west.”

The accident occurred in the late afternoon. Perhaps the sun was in the driver’s eyes. She was allegedly drunk, so maybe she just strayed out of her lane. And, unfortunately, all this occurred behind the jogger’s back. He was blissfully unaware until struck, when he “was thrown through the air and then struck a utility pole.” Ouch.

Like the great majority of accidents, two human live intersected, and both made mistakes. The driver clearly shouldn’t have left her lane of travel, whatever the reason. And the jogger was wrong in blindly turning his back to a source of danger.

It is not a trivial problem. While our Attorney General obsesses over “assault rifles,” the odds of a pedestrian dying  in an accident are 20 times greater than those of anyone being killed by any sort of rifle, “assault” or otherwise. Twenty times.

The statistics are gripping: nearly 5,000 pedestrians killed and 65,000 injured every year. With school now back in session, it behooves us to review what we can do to keep our kids, and us, safer.

There is a lot that government can do to promote pedestrian safety.  Investing in sidewalks, crosswalks, signal lights. Even more important, rigorous enforcement of traffic codes, keeping drivers in line with the intent of safety legislation. Too often, citations for rolling through a stop sign or not yielding to a pedestrian waiting to cross are issued only after an accident, not preemptively, regularly, and often enough to actually change and maintain safer driver behavior.

Here are some things that pedestrians can do to help themselves.

1. Pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t text and walk. Wait to play Pokemon until you are in the park or somewhere safely away from traffic.
2. Always prefer to walk facing traffic, even on a sidewalk. If you see a distracted or impaired driver about to leave his lane, you have a chance to do something about it. (But see number 1 – only if you are paying attention).
3. Don’t trust crosswalks. Carefully watch that traffic is clear in all directions. Once a driver has stopped for you, watch out for another cutting around her from behind.
4. Before stepping in front of a stopped car, make eye contact with the driver. A driver will often slow down for a stop sign, but only glance quickly left for oncoming traffic. Without pausing to look right, he will bang the right turn. If you, trusting or texting, distracted or dancing, step from the curb, you are now a statistic.

Now as a driver, you must realize that striking a pedestrian is a life changing event for both you and the victim. There are a few tactics you can engage to minimize the odds of such a terrible outcome.

1. Don’t be in a hurry. Often, accidents are caused by the unrelenting pressure of making up lost time. Risks are taken. Mistakes are made. But whose fault is it, really, that you are late? Show some discipline and make it a habit to leave early.
2. Pay attention. Your car, travelling at 60 miles per hour, has over 1,000 times the energy of a .357 Magnum bullet. Be a careful steward of that awesome energy.
3. When approaching a controlled intersection, come to a complete stop behind the stop line. Then creep out and look both ways before continuing. Many drivers roll right through the crosswalk and, never stopping, bang their turn if oncoming traffic permits. But here is the logical fallacy. Oncoming traffic is an independent event. It doesn’t care if you rolled or stopped or aren’t even there at all. So stopping short, looking both ways, and then proceeding when safe has no effect whatsoever on when oncoming traffic will allow you to merge. So cool your jets and take pity on those poor mothers just trying to safely cross with their baby strollers.
4. When stopping prior to turning right, ALWAYS LOOK BOTH WAYS. This cannot be overemphasized. Many a pedestrian or (wrong-way) bicyclist have been mowed down by a driver who glanced left, then banged his right turn. It is extremely dangerous to human and companion animal life forms.  

We see here a national tragedy, thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, all avoidable. We see here a nexus of government investment and enforcement, pedestrian care, and driver caution that could reduce this awful carnage.

But perhaps we prefer to obsess about “assault rifles.”

The numbers argue, strongly, otherwise.