Pedestrians and bicyclists have been concerned about the installation of roundabouts and their safety when maneuvering them. The good news is that the slower speeds associated with the roundabout translates to less severe injury in a vehicle/pedestrian crash and, as mentioned elsewhere in this website, roundabouts reduce the number of crashes.

* Note above, the additional width where pedestrians and bicyclists share the same path. The Grand Junction photo above shows two on-street bike lanes that transition to the multi-use pathway to allow the bikes to maneuver the roundabout without joining the vehicles in the roundabout--they then transition to on-street lanes on the other legs of the roundabout intersection.

In October 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, published a "Literature Review on Vehicle Travel Speeds and Pedestrian Injuries." The objectives of the review were to 1) reaffirm and quantify the relationship between vehicle speeds and pedestrian crash severities; 2) describe techniques to reduce vehicle speeds and 3) make recommendations for countermeasure programs to be tested.

The report notes the 1995 statistics that showed about 84,000 pedestrian injuries and 5,585 pedestrian fatalities (NHTSA, 1996). The NHTSA statistics for 2000 show 78,000 pedestrian injuries and 4,739 fatalities.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - Crash Reductions Following Installation of Roundabouts in the United States", a statistical report of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - 582 KB download in PDF format

Information about blind pedestrians:

• Kansas State University Study
• Pedestrian Access to Roundabouts
• The Access Board: Pedestrian Access to Modern Roundabout

Other Links:

• Avon, Colorado roundabout
• Animations from New York Department of Transportation
• Photos of pedestrian and bicycles paths around the country
• Myths and Facts about pedestrians and bicyclists