Without a doubt, one of the critical points on roads is roundabouts. Many drivers don’t know how they work properly, so this article explains how to drive on a roundabout.
Often, as a driver you are faced with three key decisions where you can deduce whether or not you know how to drive around a roundabout: who has right of way, which lane to choose at the roundabout and how to exit the roundabout.
On all roundabouts, the driver must bear in mind a few things: that whoever is on the roundabout has priority and they must choose the most appropriate lane depending on the exit they want to take. Many drivers ask how to drive on a roundabout, although due to irresponsibility or lack of knowledge they systematically fail to follow the basic rules of how to drive on a roundabout.
When you come up to a two-lane roundabout and you want to exit on the first exit, you must enter a roundabout in the right lane and simply use your indicator when you exit.
If you want to take the second exit or the one opposite, ideally when you join the roundabout you are on the inside lane so as not to disturb other drivers and, when you approach your exit, you join the outer lane after signalling. Another option is to do everything on the outside lane.
To use the third exit, merge into the inside lane. When approaching your exit, use the indicator, move to the outside lane and exit the roundabout.
Driving around a three-lane roundabout is very similar to a two-lane: To exit on the first exit, go in the outside lane and use the indicator to leave the roundabout at that first exit.
If you want to use the opposite exit, you can go in the central or inside lane and signal when you are going to change to the outside lane to then exit the roundabout. It is important that if you are driving in the inside or central lane, do not leave the roundabout without going into the outside lane. Proceed in the same way to exit at the third exit.
Right of way on a roundabout is always the vehicle that is driving on it. When you get to a roundabout, you must give way to the vehicles on the roundabout. On the other hand, to make it easier to merge into a lane, remember that the vehicle already on the roundabout has right of way.
Although as a rule you must use the outside lane, this does not mean that you do not use the inside lane. You should use it when traffic circumstances make it advisable. Two of these situations are if you want to take the last exit or if there is a lot of traffic due to queues at the exits. In any case, do not forget to always respect the right of way of other drivers and never exit from the left lane.
It is important to signal when changing lanes and leaving the roundabout. For exiting, do not signal before you are over the longitudinal central line of the previous exit, in order to avoid confusion.
Remember that the left indicator is not correct for taking the left exit, drive on the right of the roundabout or take the last exit. This indicator should only be used for changing lane.
In short, knowing how to drive correctly on a roundabout is simple. Drive on the outside lane, unless circumstances make it advisable to drive on the inside lane and always signal any manoeuvre.
