Car accidents at roundabouts on the increase. - Kitchener Personal Injury Lawyer

Roundabouts can lead to increased car accidents where drivers are unfamiliar with proper traffic prodedures in the roundabout.

September 01, 2011, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

As reported recently in the Waterloo Region Record. The use of roundabouts have seen a slight increase in the number of car accidents. While there is an increase in car accidents it does not appear that the accidents have led to a rise in the number of serious injuries.

4 collisions at new Homer Watson roundabout

KITCHENER — Our newest, biggest roundabout is launching with a bang. Literally. The $1.7-million circle has already seen at least four collisions since opening Aug. 13 at Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road in Kitchener.

Wednesday, a vehicle collided with a girl on a bicycle in a crosswalk. She was treated for scrapes at the scene. A team of safety officials were at the roundabout showing students how to cross safely when it happened.

Two vehicles collided at an entrance Aug. 22 when one failed to yield to another in the circle. Two circulating vehicles collided Aug. 23 when one in the wrong lane failed to yield to an exiting vehicle in the correct lane. No one was injured in either collision.

Details are not available about another collision reported to traffic planners by police.

“We’re keeping our eye on how the intersection is performing,” said Bob Henderson, regional manager of transportation engineering.

“We’ve designed into the roundabout all the safety factors that we can design into it, and we’re trusting the fact that the research proves that roundabouts are safer.”

He sees no pattern in the early collisions and said collisions are common as drivers adjust to a change to any intersection.

The new roundabout is the first with three lanes around part of it. It’s expected to see many student pedestrians from nearby St. Mary’s High School. Cars are supposed to stop for crossing pedestrians.

“I think it’s a safe roundabout,” said Sgt. Mike Hinsperger of the Waterloo Regional Police traffic branch. But drivers, pedestrians and cyclists need to use it properly, he said. This means following the rules, exercising caution and judgment.

He worries about pedestrians who approach roundabouts wearing headphones, looking down at the street, oblivious to traffic, not paying attention.

“For those types of people, I would say (roundabouts) are more dangerous because you have additional movement of traffic going through continually,” he said.

Safety officials will be at the roundabout again Sept. 6 when St. Mary’s resumes. The high school sought to educate students last term. School families were also mailed information about crossing safely.

Politicians started building roundabouts in 2004 to improve traffic flow, ease pollution and reduce serious injuries linked to higher speeds and dangerous angles at signalized intersections.

Safety records show collisions soared at regional roundabouts in 2010. The vast majority were fender-benders causing no injuries.

Planners attribute collisions in part to a long learning curve among motorists still figuring out how to signal properly, yield upon entry and exit properly.

About Paquette Travers & Deutschmann

Paquette Travers & Deutschmann serve South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann and Doug O’Toole focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us toll-free at 1-866-414-4878.

The opinions expressed here, while intended to provide useful information, should not be interpreted as legal recommendations or advice.

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