Seven years after the first roundabout was opened to traffic in Waterloo Region, they've been the subject of controversy, confusion and devastating crashes.

It is the crashes however, that have prompted some people to ask if installing the traffic circles were the right decision.

The region says the roundabouts have been constructed using European standards, where they appear to know both how to build them, and how to use them.

In Waterloo Region the first roundabout went into service in November 2004 at Ira Needles Boulevard and Erb Street, and ever since area drivers have been learning how to use them, and learning to love, hate or just tolerate them.

While reaction has been mixed, Regional Councillor Jim Wideman is among those who take credit for promoting the idea.

"I was one of the people that first brought it to staff suggesting that we should be looking at that…They had a lot to offer in terms of us increasing capacity on roadways without having to expand our roadways because intersections tend to decrease capacity."

There are now 16 roundabouts on the region's roads, and officials admit there have been growing pains.

In the last five years there have been 472 crashes with 41 injuries, but no fatalities.

Comparatively, intersections with similar traffic volumes using signal lights have had nearly 4,400 collisions with 1,178 injuries and four fatalities over five years.

Thomas Schmidt, commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services for the Region of Waterloo, says "You're twice as likely to have a pedestrian injury accident at a signalized intersection versus a roundabout. You're three times as likely to have a personal injury accident with a vehicle at a signalized intersection versus a roundabout."

And he says most drivers have shown they can figure out how to navigate a roundabout safely.

"I believe that given time and training and as people become familiar with it that we will see the number of incidents drop as we have at all ours, every single roundabout."

Police say speed is often a factor in the safety of any intersection, and that includes roundabouts.

Waterloo Regional Police Sgt. Scott Richardson says people who approach too quickly often have trouble.

"They won't be able to react in time to avoid a collision or avoid pedestrians if they should come out quickly, so we want to make sure that people are slowing down well in advance."

There have been serious concerns about speed at the roundabout at Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road where a teen was seriously injured after being struck by a bus.

Last week police launched a campaign to enforce speed limits and educate drivers, and they found some disturbing infractions.

"The highest speed being 101 and someone doing 111 kilometres per hour coming out of the roundabout. We weren't able to go after them but that's an indication that speeds are high in the area," Richardson told CTV News.

By the end of the week 33 tickets were issued. In the 70 kilometre per hour zone one driver was clocked at 115 kilometres per hour near the roundabout.

After the speed limit was dropped to 50 kilometres per hour in the area, 14 tickets were issued, with the top speed being 94 kilometres per hour.

Coming up in part two: The tragic accident at a roundabout that left a Kitchener teen with serious injuries has renewed debate about their safety.