Crashes up in roundabouts
Posted Aug 17, 2011 05:06:20 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There is still work to do to improve the skills of drivers traveling through roundabouts.
The Region is out with its 2010 collisions report and it shows a spike of 54 percent in roundabout crashes as compared to the previous year. There were 131 collisions in 11 roundabouts, up from 85 in 2009. Most were minor crashes.
The biggest problem spots included the St. Jacobs roundabout, where the number of crashes jumped to 27 from seven and the Erb Street/Ira Needles roundabout, where collisions climbed from 15 to 30.
Regional manager of transportation engineering, Bob Henderson blames several factors including increased traffic and poor driving skills.
He tells the Record the learning curve “is a little slower than we were hoping for.”
The report also listed the worst regular intersections for crashes. Ottawa at Homer Watson in Kitchener holds the dubious number one honour followed by King at Fountain in Cambridge.
Here is the Roundabout Dance, part of the Region’s roundabout education campaign…
