DRIVE TIME
Roundabouts a direct path to mishaps?

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

News and notes about traffic from near and far:

Those neighborhood roundabouts increasingly popping up in Honolulu as a way to calm aggressive drivers may not be all they're cracked up to be.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in many places "accident rates have surged after the installation of roundabouts, causing them to be razed in favor of old-fashioned traffic lights or stop signs." One new roundabout in Florida resulted in more than 500 accidents in two years, eight times higher than at the intersection it replaced.

Municipal officials across the country blame drivers' unfamiliarity with roundabouts, which have been popular in Britain and Australia for years. Despite the confusion, the officials say the roundabouts do slow traffic and thus reduce serious injuries.

Hawai'i County officials are sponsoring a child passenger safety awareness campaign that includes the distribution of infant shirts to all babies born at Big Island hospitals in February. The T-shirt's message: "Buckle Up for Love."

A 1995 study found that only 37 percent of children younger than 5 years of age were properly restrained in Hawai'i, compared with the national average of about 80 percent. State law requires that children under 4 be restrained properly in car seats.

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to hold a public forum on the traffic-camera controversy. The group says the forum will provide information to those who wish to contest their tickets. Panelists will include ACLU legal director Brent White and several local defense attorneys.

The forum is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Blaisdell Center's Pikake Room.

For more information, contact the ACLU at office@acluhawaii.org or 522-5900.

The next breed of electric-gas hybrid vehicles will hit the United States in a couple of months.

Honda's Civic Hybrid, which gets about 50 mpg for city and highway driving, is expected to go on sale in April. It's based on the Civic subcompact with only a few minor changes to body panels and will cost about $20,000, about $4,000 more than a four-door Civic EX, which gets about 38 mpg on the highway.

Honda says it expects to sell about 2,000 Civic Hybrids a month. A $20,000 sticker price would make it competitively priced with the popular Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle, which has a base price of about $19,000.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column appears every Tuesday. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.