Roundabout basics — District of Columbia Permit Test
Roundabout basics on the District of Columbia permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Each road approaching a roundabout is marked with a yield sign and may also have yield line markings on the pavement.
The yield sign tells you the cars already circling go first, so you do not pull out in front of them.
Each road approaching the roundabout is marked with a yield sign and may also have yield line markings on the pavement.
After entering a roundabout, drivers must travel in a counter-clockwise direction.
Everyone going the same way around the circle is what keeps cars from meeting head-on inside it.
After entering the roundabout, drivers must travel in a counter-clockwise direction.
When approaching a roundabout, slow down and use your turn signals to indicate where you want to go.
Slowing gives you time to read the signs and spot gaps, and your signal tells others which way you will go.
When approaching a roundabout, slow down.
On the test
What sign marks each road approaching a roundabout?
A yield sign. The yield sign tells you the cars already circling go first, so you do not pull out in front of them. DC Driver Manual, p.51: “Each road approaching the roundabout is marked with a yield sign and may also have yield line markings on the pavement.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
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- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
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All District of Columbia permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against DC Driver Manual, published by the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pdf (DC Driver Manual (English), Rev. 7/29/2021, District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, fetched 2026-10-05 from the Wayback Machine's original-bytes capture of dmv.dc.gov; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/publication/dc-dmv-automobile-driver-manual (read 2026-10-05; links only the 2023 Issuu flipbooks)
- https://issuu.com/dcdmv/docs/dc_dmv_driver_manual_english_revised_final (the current 2023 edition, read 2026-10-05 from its public page images to diff against the pinned edition; not pinnable)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/service/knowledge-tests (read 2026-10-05; states no count or mark for the knowledge test)
- https://dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/RuleList.aspx?ChapterNum=18-1 (18 DCMR chapter 1, sections 100-114, read 2026-10-05; section 104 sets what the examination covers and states no figure)
- https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1401.01 (D.C. Code 50-1401.01, read 2026-10-05; requires a knowledge examination and states no figure)