I think to an American, a roundabout is this thing that only works for cars and don't take pedestrians or bicyclists into account, with no paths or crosswalks or anything, so hence "Worse for pedestrians". I don't blame them, both roundabouts and care for pedestrians seems uncommon over there, so of course their experience will point towards roundabouts being worse overall.
(UK experience) If you're trying to cross the road leading onto one, it's much harder to tell if a vehicle is going to hit you at speed. I often observe people turning quickly, without indicating, and had I chosen to cross at that time, there would have been some kind of accident. Junctions tend to not have this problem since cars turning out of them are usually going much slower.
I think to an American, a roundabout is this thing that only works for cars and don't take pedestrians or bicyclists into account, with no paths or crosswalks or anything, so hence "Worse for pedestrians". I don't blame them, both roundabouts and care for pedestrians seems uncommon over there, so of course their experience will point towards roundabouts being worse overall.
(UK experience) If you're trying to cross the road leading onto one, it's much harder to tell if a vehicle is going to hit you at speed. I often observe people turning quickly, without indicating, and had I chosen to cross at that time, there would have been some kind of accident. Junctions tend to not have this problem since cars turning out of them are usually going much slower.