Reducing Older Driver Injuries at Intersections Using More Accommodating Roundabout Design Practices

This research investigates a strategy to ameliorate the largest source of unintentional injuries in the United States, motor vehicle crashes, by improving the ability of our most vulnerable drivers, the elderly, to safely negotiate the most dangerous and demanding of all traffic situations—intersections. Studies have shown that more crashes occur at intersections, resulting in more injuries and fatalities, than in any other driving situation; and this risk is exacerbated for older persons who, with their declining functional abilities but increasing frailty, represent the fastest growing segment of the driving public. Coupled with an overwhelming reliance by seniors on private vehicle travel to meet their personal mobility needs, these trends make it imperative to somehow enhance the proficiency of older drivers at intersections. The present research suggests a way to meet this goal through improvements in highway design and operations, specifically the use of the modern roundabout. Compared to conventional intersections, roundabouts have the demonstrated potential to significantly reduce the most injurious (angle) type of crashes and slow the operating speed of al