WATERLOO — The 70-year-old driver of the car that struck 23-year-old Alison Hemming while she attempted to cross a Waterloo roundabout on Nov. 30 has been charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian.

On a rainy, seasonally dark evening, Hemming was struck by the man, driving a Volvo SUV, at the roundabout intersection of Erb Street West, Erbsville Road and Ira Needles Boulevard. Bystanders and motorists came to her aid, and she was eventually transported to a Toronto hospital with injuries to her head and limbs.

The offence comes with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and three demerit points. Police said that the investigation is still ongoing.

Without commenting on the actions of the driver, Region of Waterloo transportation engineering manager Bob Henderson said conditions at the time of the Nov. 30 collision, mainly the early cover of night, should be considered when scrutinizing the incident.

"It was the worse possible time for anyone to walk anywhere else in the region. We see our rate of pedestrian collisions go up every single year starting in the month of September until the end of December."

Immediately after the Nov. 30 collision, a motorist who assisted Hemming reached out to regional council, asking for them to consider installing new measures to control drivers conduct and highlight the presence of pedestrians when they attempt to cross the roundabout.

Michael Rak asked regional councillors why more lights, signage and road paint could not be put in and around the crosswalks of roundabouts, and whether the region ever mulled the idea of building signals to control the flow of cars into the circle.

Henderson said he would "entertain any solutions" provided to him by members of the public.

Between 2007 and 2013, only two pedestrians — one each in 2012 and 2013 — were injured in a collision with a vehicle while crossing the crosswalk. Between 2007 and 2013, 19 individuals were hurt in motor vehicle collisions at the roundabout.

While much of how a roundabout is constructed and signed is governed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Henderson said the 19 roundabouts in the region are very well lit.

"The level lighting at roundabouts is typically higher than lighting at signalized intersections," Henderson said. "It was done that way intentionally."

For a different and more troublesome roundabout, at the intersection of Block Line Road and Homer Watson Boulevard in Kitchener, the region has developed prototype "raised" crosswalks, which resemble flattened-out speed bumps. The bumps will help slow all vehicles as they pass over the crosswalk and into the roundabout.

Council will be asked to vote on whether to install the raised crosswalks at Block Line Road sometime in 2015, but Henderson said they're "a tool that could be adopted elsewhere."

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Henderson said he wonders why pedestrian vs. vehicle collisions that occur in roundabouts evoke such a response, as there have been as many as 50 pedestrians struck at lighted intersections this year, far exceeding the number of pedestrians struck in roundabouts.

"Why is the roundabout a lightning rod for these solutions? I've been looking for solutions at traffic signals for 20 years."