By STEPHANIE ZEPELIN
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
If you’ve driven in Hamilton County, you’ve probably gone through a roundabout. The intersection design first popular in Europe is gaining popularity.
A study out of Wisconsin found roundabouts may cut down on fatal accidents, but increase other, less serious crashes. Police data obtained by I-Team 8 show there are a lot of accidents at those intersections here in Central Indiana.
Summer can mean vacations, which can mean trips, and that can also mean lots of people out on the roads.
“They actually call it the hundred deadliest days of driving for teen drivers,” said Sgt. John Perrine with the Indiana State Police.
Perrine said traffic increases dramatically over the summer.
Before you put the pedal to the metal, I-Team 8 wanted to know which intersections were the most dangerous in Central Indiana and obtained crash data for the most accident-prone intersections.
ISP allowed the data, collected by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, to be released to WISH-TV. The data is collected whenever a police officer files a report at or within 50 feet of the intersection. The numbers reflect the total number of accidents from 2016 and 2017, combined.
Olio Road and Southeastern Parkway in Fishers had the most wrecks with 133.
Second, third and fourth on the list are all in Carmel: (in order)
- 116th Street and Keystone Parkway (122 accidents)
- 116th Street and Pennsylvania Street (107 accidents)
- 116th Street and Illinois Street (106 accidents)
The Carmel Police Department attributes the high number of accidents at these intersections to the high volume of traffic going through them. They shared traffic statistics at those intersections for 2018:
- 116th Street and Keystone Parkway: averaged 31,500 cars
- 116th Street and Pennsylvania Street: averaged 9,000 cars
- 116th Street and Illinois Street: averaged 10,750 cars
“If you take that in comparison to the accidents in the area, sure you’re going to have a few more accidents than you normally would if you got that many people traveling through a roundabout,” said Lt. Joe Bickel, with the Carmel Police Department.
Bickel
In fact, the top four intersections with the most wrecks, according to the data, are roundabouts. However, the vast majority of those wrecks resulted in just property damage and there were no fatalities at those intersections in 2016 or 2017, according to Fishers and Carmel Police.
“It [a roundabout] requires you to slow down, it requires you to pay more attention and I think it’s more safe because it reduces the possibility of a serious crash,” said Sgt. Tom Weger, with the Fishers Police Department.
I-Team 8 talked to someone who teaches people how to use roundabouts: AA Indiana Driving School Driving Instructor, Mike Ward.
“It’s just human nature for people to be afraid of what you’re not familiar with and that’s the main thing – they don’t know how they’re supposed to work,” said Ward.
Ward said driving students from outside Hamilton County are nervous about roundabouts, but catch on quickly. His advice? Look to your left and slow down.
The City of Carmel claims the most roundabouts in the country with 116, and it’s working to put in more.