Roundabout steps — North Dakota Permit Test

A roundabout is a circular intersection where vehicles travel around a center island in a counter-clockwise direction.

With all traffic going the same way around, cars never meet head on and crashes are smaller.

A roundabout is a circular intersection where vehicles travel around a center island in a counter-clockwise direction.

Roundabouts are designed to reduce the number and severity of collisions and to keep traffic flowing.

Slow, one-way traffic around a circle replaces the high-speed side impacts that happen at ordinary crossings.

These intersections are designed to reduce the number and severity of collisions, as well as provide operational efficiencies in the flow of traffic.

When approaching a roundabout, the first step is to reduce your speed.

A roundabout's tight curve and merging traffic need a slow speed to see and react in time.

Reduce your speed.

When entering a roundabout, yield to circulating traffic.

Cars already in the circle cannot stop easily for you, so the driver entering waits for a gap.

Yield to circulating traffic when entering the roundabout.

In a roundabout with more than one lane, use the left lane to turn left, the right lane to turn right, and all lanes to go through unless signs and pavement markings say otherwise.

Picking the right lane before you enter means you never have to cut across another car inside the circle.

If more than one lane exists, use the left lane to turn left, the right lane to turn right, and all lanes to go through unless directed otherwise by signs and pavement markings.

Stay in your lane within the roundabout.

Changing lanes inside a tight circle puts you into the side of a car you cannot see well.

Stay in your lane within the roundabout.

In a roundabout, always assume trucks need all available space and do not pass them.

A long truck swings across both lanes to get around the circle, and a car beside it can be crushed.

Always assume trucks need all available space—do not pass them!

Clear the roundabout to let emergency vehicles pass, and do not enter it if one is approaching.

Stopping inside the circle would block the only path an ambulance or fire truck has through it.

Clear the roundabout to allow emergency vehicles to pass and do not enter the roundabout if one is approaching.

Which way do vehicles travel around the center island of a roundabout?

Counter-clockwise. With all traffic going the same way around, cars never meet head on and crashes are smaller. North Dakota Noncommercial Driver License Manual, p.23: “A roundabout is a circular intersection where vehicles travel around a center island in a counter-clockwise direction.”