Thank you for the informative article, Analysis of traffic crashes involving serious injury or death in Newton.
I was looking at the numbers, a few of them pointed to a straightforward safety improvement. Specifically, the most common factor in serious crashes is an intersection (54%). Bicycle accidents most commonly involve a left turning vehicle (47%) and four-way intersections (33%).
Traffic circles (roundabouts and rotaries) only have right turns! Furthermore, traffic circles self regulate, don’t consume electricity, and reduce the time drivers idle at red lights spewing pollution into our air.
Requiring people older than 75 to pass more rigorous and frequent tests of driving competency is not an option at the city level, but opportunistically replacing wasteful traffic lights (e.g., at the five-way intersection of Homer Street and Walnut Street by the library, or the complex intersection at Langley Road and Beacon Street, or the school zone trouble at Park Street and Tremont Street in Newton Corner, etc.) would improve both safety and everyday quality of life. For elders (me quite soon) too!
Jonathan Beit-Aharon
Newton Corner
