Roundabouts safer than traffic lights

Transport for NSW Regional Director, Anna Zycki, Roads Minister, Paul Toole, and Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, at a roundabout site

[Forum] The Central Coast Council is proposing to convert the Rawson Rd/Ocean Beach Rd roundabout to a traffic light controlled intersection at a significant cost and disruption to the locale.

The modifications are intended to “improve traffic safety and ease traffic flow in the area,” yet a major safety study by the USA Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) found that a one way gyratory system with four feeder roads (roundabout) reduces severe crashes by 78 per cent compared to a four way intersection controlled by traffic lights, and 82 per cent compared to stop sign controlled intersections.
Two factors were identified.

Roundabouts reduce speed through the intersection and trade off right angle (T-bone) crashes for less violent glancing crashes.
Based on that study, many intersections in the USA are being revamped from square intersections to roundabouts for improved traffic flow and safety.
Either Council is out of touch with current traffic planning studies or do they just have our money to burn?

Email, Jan 18
Tim Bard, Tascott