Earlier this year, David Halberstam, one of America’s foremost journalists and war historians, died because the driver of the car he was in evidently misjudged a simple left hand turn.

Halberstam’s vehicle was broadsided entering a busy intersection in Menlo Park, resulting not only in fatal injuries to Halberstam himself, but also in injuries to the driver of his car and two other drivers whose cars were struck, as well.

Unfortunately, this type of collision – and its tragic consequences – are all too common. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, close to 42,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2006 and over 2.5 million were injured.

Approximately 45 percent of those accidents occurred at intersections, “often because of misjudged left turns,” according to The Economist.

There is, however, a silver lining. Given this data, a simple, cheap and effective method already exists for reducing the number of annual traffic accidents in the U.S.: the construction of more roundabouts.

Roundabouts are those odd looking traffic circle thingies in which cars from intersecting thoroughfares enter into a rotary stream of traffic around a central “island” instead of waiting at a stoplight before crossing a dangerous open junction.

Common throughout Europe, the main advantage of roundabouts is that there are no left turns. Rather, you simply drive up to the edge of the roundabout, yield to oncoming traffic from your left (traffic only goes one way, yet another safety enhancing feature), then make a right turn to join in the fun.

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that roundabouts reduce the overall number of traffic accidents by 39 percent, reduce the number of injurious traffic accidents by 76 percent and reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents by 90 percent.

In addition, roundabouts are more energy efficient because they eliminate the need for costly traffic light systems. They provide faster passage through intersections on average because the flow of traffic self-adjusts from peak hours to off hours, thereby reducing congestion, and they’re more fuel efficient, too, because cars don’t have to stop, idle and re-accelerate at red lights.

As college students, all of these issues have a significant impact on our lives. Young drivers are statistically far more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than older ones, we’re all worried about the environment, and congestion is an issue to anyone who’s ever tried driving out of De Anza College at lunchtime. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, gas prices are above $3 again.

The decision to construct roundabouts instead of traffic lights is often in the hands of local city councils, so if you’re looking for a way to do something positive for yourself and your community, write a letter to the mayor, attend a town meeting, and get the word out about the roundabout.