People who have been driving in Minnesota for any length of time have no doubt seen many people virtually speed up to get through an intersection before a light turns red. This is just one of the many things that can contribute to a serious motor vehicle accident as intersections are common locations for crashes to happen.
Minnesota installed its first roundabout some 22 years ago and to date there are approximately 200 roundabouts statewide. The state completed a study involving 144 of its roundabouts that looked into the safety of these features and the results were recently made public. Overall the benefits of a roundabout compared to a traditional intersection were clear in both accident reduction and cost savings.
Crashes were found to be reduced by more than 40 percent when a roundabout was installed. Wrecks involving injuries deemed to be serious were lowered by over 80 percent. The fact that all vehicles are naturally forced to slow down may be a factor in these results. Nonetheless, many people are resistant to roundabouts but the reasons for this are not known. Individual municipalities can make their own decisions on intersection setup and some may hope that the lower maintenance costs might help promote the installation of more roundabouts.
In the meantime, people who are injured in accidents that happen in intersections or elsewhere might find talking with an attorney a useful way of finding how to seek help or compensation.
Source: MinnPost.com, “Highway roundabouts have proven value,” Nov. 7, 2017