Viera roundabout crashes on the rise. But data shows it's safer than you might think
Surrounded by widespread new development across West Viera, the well-trafficked Viera roundabout has climbed the rankings to become Brevard County's No. 1 intersection in annual vehicle crash frequency.
Back in 2016, the Viera roundabout at Wickham Road and Lake Andrew Drive only ranked No. 20 on the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization's intersection crash list, averaging 32.2 crashes per year. But crashes went on to skyrocket 83% to 59.0 annual crashes by 2022, the most recent data year available.
However — though motorists have complained about the roundabout for years — those crash statistics contain significant safety context, said Abby Hemenway, Space Coast TPO public information and outreach manager.
"An important point: There have been no traffic fatalities or serious injuries at this roundabout," Hemenway said.
"When crashes occur, they are typically low-speed and injuries and damage to vehicles are typically far less severe," she said.
The Viera roundabout's annual crash rate is bucking Brevard's traffic trends. Total annual crashes across the county decreased 7.5% during the five-year span from 2018 to 2022, tumbling from 15,142 crashes to 14,001.
However, Viera's popularity and residential-commercial growth continues. Population statistics:
2000: 7,123 residents.
2010: 19,193 residents.
2023: 37,592 residents.
2045: 70,000-plus residents (projected at final buildout).
Brevard's Top 5 crash frequency intersections
The Space Coast TPO's latest Top 5 intersection annual crash frequency list:
Viera roundabout: 59.0 crashes per year.
Babcock Street and Palm Bay Road in Palm Bay: 54.4 crashes.
Malabar Road and Babcock Street in Palm Bay: 45.6 crashes.
State Road 520 and North Courtenay Parkway on Merritt Island: 40.4 crashes.
Wickham Road and Sarno Road in Melbourne: 37.2 crashes.
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Viera roundabout ranks 190th in crash severity
On the safety side, Hemenway cited Florida Department of Transportation data that shows Sunshine State roundabouts have generated 15% to 47% reductions in total crashes and an 80% plunge in serious injuries and fatalities, compared with other types of intersections.
For example, Hemenway said conventional traffic-light intersections have 32 potential vehicle conflict points and 16 pedestrian conflict points, while roundabouts have only eight vehicle and eight pedestrian conflict points. Roundabouts also eliminate left-turn and right-angle crashes.
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The Viera roundabout (41,208 daily vehicles) logged 203 crashes from 2018 to 2022 — but only 25 resulted in injuries while 178 only generated vehicle damages, Space Coast TPO data shows. So 12% of crashes resulted in injury.
For comparison's sake, the dangerous Merritt Island intersection at North Courtenay Parkway and Merritt Avenue (36,014 daily vehicles) logged only 87 crashes from 2018 to 2022 — but three were fatal crashes, 21 were injury crashes, and 65 only generated vehicle damages. So 28% of crashes there resulted in injury or death.
That hazardous Merritt Island intersection ranks No. 1 on the Space Coast in terms of average crash severity. The Viera roundabout ranks No. 190, Brevard County Director of Communications Don Walker said.
Tree moved to roundabout in 2002
FLORIDA TODAY first reported on future construction of a Viera traffic circle or roundabout in a March 2001 story about Walmart planning to build Brevard's biggest Supercenter nearby on 34 acres of cow pasture in “the vastly underdeveloped region of Viera that lies west of Interstate 95.”
Work crews shaped the roundabout months later. In March 2002, a tree moving company carefully transplanted the landmark oak tree — which was estimated to be 50 to 100 years old — in the center of the roundabout from the tree’s original home on the A. Duda & Sons ranch.
The Viera Co. intended the roundabout to serve as a showpiece entrance area to the future Viera Promenade, a huge-by-Brevard-standards open-air commercial-residential development featuring a 16-screen Rave Motion Pictures movie theater. That development became The Avenue Viera.
Eva Rey, The Viera Co.'s senior vice president of community management and communications, said she spends a few minutes on roundabout education during her orientation classes for new Viera residents.
Walker said county officials do not plan to modify the roundabout, "although we have made improvements to traffic control signage to enhance safety and driver understanding."
Viera roundabout driving safety tips
Hemenway offered a list of safety tips for drivers who travel the Viera roundabout:
Determine which way you will go before you approach the roundabout.
Enter carefully while yielding right-of-way to vehicles already in the roundabout
Pick a lane and stay in it. If you are turning right, enter the right lane. If you are turning left, enter the left lane. If you are going straight, you can enter either lane.
If you start from the outside lane, you must exit at the first or second exit. Do not take the outside lane all the way around to the third or fourth exit of the roundabout as you will improperly cross in front of the path of the car on the inside lane.
Never change lanes in the roundabout. The lane you exit in needs to be the same lane in which you started.
When you approach your exit lane, watch and yield to pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the exit roadway.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Viera roundabout sees most traffic accidents in Brevard, Florida
