Anyone who thought Alberta motorists were the worst of a bad bunch, try taking on a traffic circle in BC.That’s because a new Ipsos survey finds that just 29% of Left Coast drivers feel comfortable navigating a multi-lane roundabout — which means seven in 10 are white knuckled with some degree of frustration or outright fear.That level of confidence falls even further when cyclists are present — just 21% find it ‘easy’ regardless of situation. Notably, female drivers are more likely to find this aspect more difficult to manage (39%) compared to just 26% of male drivers.Even more troubling? Only 31% of drivers can manage a marked crosswalk while 22% find it ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ on a 7-point scale..It comes as the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) seeks to reduce the number of accidents on the province’s roads. According to the province’s Crown auto insurance provider, roundabouts reduce crashes by about 75% and are much safer — mostly because they eliminate left-hand turns, one of the top causes of severe and fatal car crashes. They also keep traffic moving more smoothly owing to fewer red lights and turn signals.“Road design is critical to keeping everyone on our roads safe,” said Shabnem Afzal, ICBC’s director of road safety. “Roundabouts are proven to be highly effective in reducing crashes. While common in Europe, they’re relatively newer to Canada.”.Traffic circles account for 90% fewer fatalities, 76% fewer injury crashes, but just 10% fewer bicycle crashes..According to the US Department of Transportation, more than half of all collisions happen at intersections and half of those are due to left hand turns — which is aggravated when people fail to use their turn signals.Ironically, turn signal management is absolutely crucial to navigating a traffic circle — which may partly explain why drivers are so uncomfortable navigating them. But the consequences are far less severe, unless you happen to be a pedestrian or a cyclist. .According to Iowa’s department of transportation, traffic circles account for 90% fewer fatalities, 76% fewer injury crashes, but just 10% fewer bicycle crashes.That said, drivers hate them. The first roundabout in the US wasn’t built until 1990 in Summerlin, NV.Even in BC, there have only been 90 built since 2000. But if the ICBC’s public awareness campaign is any indication, get ready to see many more.“In summary, not yielding to the vehicle that has the right of way at roundabouts emerged as the most frustrating behaviour observed among other drivers when navigating a roundabout, followed closely by the lack of signalling when exiting a roundabout,” ICBC says.Oh, and slow down.
