Public Opinion
In the United States, municipalities introducing new roundabouts often are met with some degree of public resistance before trying them, just as in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Drivers may be unfamiliar with roundabouts initially; however, surveys show that negative public opinion reverses as drivers gain experience with roundabouts. A 1998 survey of municipalities that built roundabouts found public opinion prior to construction as 68% opposed; afterwards it was 73% in favour. A 2007 survey of citizens found public support ranging from 22% to 44% prior to construction, and several years after construction was 57% to 87%.
A pedestrian group in Kinston, North Carolina in 2007 proposed roundabouts in place of traffic lights at major intersections.
Read more about this topic: Roundabout
Famous quotes containing the words public opinion, public and/or opinion:
“Englishmen never will be slaves: they are free to do whatever the Government and public opinion allow them to do.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“One doesn’t have to get anywhere in a marriage. It’s not a public conveyance.”
—Iris Murdoch (b. 1919)
“When an opinion has taken root in a democracy and established itself in the minds of the majority, it afterward persists by itself, needing no effort to maintain it since no one attacks it. Those who at first rejected it as false come in the end to adopt it as accepted, and even those who still at the bottom of their hearts oppose it keep their views to themselves, taking great care to avoid a dangerous and futile contest.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)