Have you ever wondered about how safe roundabouts really are? The New York State Department of Transportation has released some new information on the safety of them.

The first time I ever drove through a roundabout was in West Bloomfield, Michigan a few years ago. I had never seen one before, so I almost gave my uncle a heart attack while going through it.

My uncle needed to explain to me how to properly go through them (he still has nightmares about that moment).

When I started driving in the Hudson Valley I noticed roundabouts started to pop up and now they are a pretty common thing around here. For some reason, roundabouts seem to bring up a lot of mixed opinions and people have very strong thoughts about them. I always see people writing about them in local Facebook groups and have heard my co-workers go into deep conversations about them in the hallway, I know... odd.

The New York State Department of Transportation has released new information on roundabouts and they are putting some of the myths about them to rest.

What recent information has the New York State Department of Transportation released on roundabouts?

According to officials, a roundabout has fewer vehicle and pedestrian conflicts compared to a traditional intersection, by a lot.

Roundabout has 8 vehicle conflicts compared to the 32 vehicle conflicts in an intersection
Roundabout has 8 pedestrian conflicts compared to the 24 pedestrian conflicts in an intersection

The New York State Department of Transportation also pointed out that less math is involved so that leads to less conflict.

So maybe they aren't so bad.