Navigating a Single-Lane Roundabout

Watch this Video on Roundabout Safety

Roundabouts are a proven means of controlling traffic at intersections, discouraging speeding, reducing emissions and lowering the rate of fatal crashes when compared to intersections with traffic signals.

Approaching vehicles must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to traffic in the roundabout. When you enter, yield to circulating traffic from the left, but do not stop if it is clear.

(Click image for larger version)       10 tips for roundabout driving 1 Slow down: Reduce your speed and prepare to stop if there is traffic in the roundabout. 2 Yield: Do not proceed beyond the yield sign until all cross traffic is clear. 3 No merging alongside other cars: Entering drivers are not permitted to merge alongside traffic already in the roundabout, even if there is more than one lane. 4 Find a gap: Enter the roundabout when there is a safe gap in all lanes. 5 Go right: While this is noTht considered a right turn, cars always go to the right and exit right. 6 Stay in your lane. You should choose the correct lane before entering the roundabout and stay in that lane. 7 Be doubly careful in double roundabouts. Traffic may sometimes cross in front of you after you have entered the roundabout, so be ready to yield. 8 Right of way is not always right. Aggressively asserting your right of way with your accelerator isn’t prudent. Once you’ve safely entered, you have the right of way, but this doesn’t give you the right to hit someone. 9 Drive cautiously and politely. Always be aware that other vehicles may not understand how the roundabout works. Patience and courtesy brightens everyone’s day and keeps traffic moving. 10 Learn as much as you can. Links to instructional videos and other information about driving in roundabouts is available at CoMo.gov.

Read more about Columbia’s Single-Lane Roundabouts in the Columbia’s Citizen Handbook 2016 , page 33.

Public Works
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