How do roundabouts help pedestrians cross safely

By their design roundabouts slow down traffic as they travel through an intersection by using a curved entry. Since a vehicle is already slowing down, this can increase stop compliance for pedestrians.

Another advantage is that a pedestrian only has to worry about vehicles coming from one direction of travel at a time, rather than having to focus on multiple lanes of traffic at once. When a pedestrian approaches a roundabout they only need to look to their left for a safe gap. Once at the pedestrian refuge island between the two lanes, they only need to worry about traffic on their right to finish the crossing.

This two-phase crossing can be faster, and safer, then the one-phase crossing at a traditional four-leg intersection.