The facts: The roundabout on Hillsborough has been the site of more than 100 fender-benders since its creation. The City of Raleigh will reduce it to one lane.
Our Opinion: The City of Raleigh has done everything in its power to maximize efficiency and safety. Drivers should be make safety, not speed, their priority.
It seems that drivers never adjusted to the roundabout addition. The Raleigh Police Department reported the roundabout near the Belltower saw 84 accidents back in October 2011; at that point, the roundabout had only been in place just over year. Since then, the number of accidents at the Hillsborough-Pullen roundabout has exceeded 100.
The Raleigh Public Works Departments believes the two-lane roundabout confuses drivers. To improve safety, the city has decided to allocate $10,500 to make the roundabout a single lane.
In an interview with the News and Observer, Raleigh Public Works engineer Jim Dunlop stated that out of 100-plus roundabouts, this is the only one where accidents are a big issue.
We applaud the city for its commitment to driver safety, but individuals need to be more conscious of their driving habits.
When you consider the age range of the majority of drivers in the area, the high crash rate starts to make sense. Many of the drivers are college students from N.C. State and Meredith, and young people are not known for their safety-conscious attitudes.
Luckily, none of the accidents have been fatal since drivers are forced to greatly reduce their speed in a roundabout, but that does not make the accident less frustrating. However, there are crosswalks near the roundabout. If drivers continue to put speed ahead of safety, the implications could be fatal for pedestrians.
Previously, the city considerable effort into making sure drivers knew the mechanics of the roundabout. Driving instructions were promulgated in literature and on numerous road signs. However, crash statistics do not reflect the city’s effort to promote safety.
The Raleigh Public Works’ solution is a step in the right direction; however, most of the responsibility lies in the hands of the driver. There are multiple yield signs located at the roundabout, yet still many accidents. In the end, it is driver error, not poor construction that is responsible for confusion.
The single-lane roundabout will improve safety by reducing abrupt lane changes, but drivers need to slow down and pay attention.
