Roundabouts are a safer alternative to stop signs or stop lights because they significantly reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. Stop signs and lights depend on driver judgment and attention, while the roundabout design substantially reduces those impacts.

The round shape of roundabouts minimizes the number of conflict points – which are the points at which vehicles can crash into one another. A traditional intersection has 32 conflict points. A single-lane roundabout has only eight conflict points.

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Roundabouts are a safer alternative to stop signs or stop lights because they significantly reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. Stop signs and lights depend on driver judgment and attention, while the roundabouts design significantly reduces the those impacts.

In addition, the circular design of a roundabout virtually eliminates the deadliest forms of crashes – T-Bone and head-on style crashes. Roundabouts also reduce rear-end collisions because traffic must slow down to enter. Vehicles, especially trucks, cannot navigate roundabouts at high speeds. Simply put, roundabouts save lives. Roundabouts constructed at intersections along high-speed, two-lane rural highways reduce crashes by 68% and reduce serious injury crashes by up to 88%.

Roundabouts also improve traffic flow and reduce the amount of time you wait to go through the intersection. Instead of coming to a complete stop, as you would at a signal or sign, you slow down, yield to traffic in the circle to your left, then enter the roundabout.

Roundabouts in Montana are already saving lives. A roundabout in Helena at the intersection of Canyon Ferry Road and Lake Helena Drive reduced crashes by 70% and eliminated fatalities over five years.

Watch this video to see how roundabouts are a better way to get around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O33ysyyTcg8