Canadians Also Confused By Traffic Circles

"Dizzying confusion over traffic circles has the city, police and AMA teaming up to cut crashes.

"People just don't have a very good understanding of traffic circles," Staff Sgt. Barry Maron of the Edmonton Police Service traffic unit said today at a circle near 107 Avenue and 142 Street.

While Edmonton has just five traffic circles, they are often tied up due to collisions. Today's launch of a public awareness campaign to teach motorists how to properly navigate the round intersections was at 107 Avenue and 142 Street, the scene of 233 crashes in the past three years. The circle is second only to 23 Avenue when it comes to intersection collisions.

"The biggest factor with traffic circles is unfamiliarity. People don't see them that often and when they get there they panic and don't know what to do," said Maron, adding that circles are a snap for the educated driver but many newcomers to Edmonton may be unfamiliar with them."