The circle of life

WATERLOO — It was an afternoon of going around in circles.

One chilly November afternoon, I decided to carry out an unscientific test of what it’s like for a pedestrian to go through a busy roundabout.

I went to the roundabout at Ira Needles Boulevard and Erb Street West in Waterloo, because there are nearby homes and plenty of destinations that might attract walkers: Restaurants, coffee shops, a drugstore, beer store and more.

There’s also lots of traffic, about 28,000 trucks, cars and buses.

The experience was mixed. On the plus side, the vast majority of drivers safely stopped and allowed me to cross. I crossed the busy road, in all directions, more than 40 times; drivers yielded about 71 per cent of the time.

When there were no vehicles coming my way, I could simply cross, with much less wait time than at a regular traffic light.

But I also had several nearmisses, when drivers stopped abruptly just short of the crosswalk, as well as times when the driver just blew by me. In some cases it was obvious they never saw me.

Drivers leaving the roundabout were least likely to notice that I wanted to cross the road.

Exiting drivers yielded 56 per cent of the time — compared to 94 per cent of the time for drivers entering the roundabout. Exiting drivers failed to yield 24 per cent of the time; I had near-misses 20 per cent of the time.

At roundabouts, drivers are told to stop for pedestrians. Pedestrians are told to make sure drivers are stopping for them. I didn’t feel I was taking my life in my hands during my roundabout experiment and I felt more comfortable the more I crossed.

But it certainly was clear that many drivers aren’t looking for, or stopping, for pedestrians — the most vulnerable road users.