Driver's License Test Prep
California Practice Right of Way

As you approach a roundabout, what does California require you to do?

  1. A.
    Yield only to vehicles entering on your immediate right.
  2. B.
    Enter as soon as you arrive; circulating traffic yields to you.
  3. C.
    Yield to every vehicle already circulating in the roundabout. Correct
The Why

The answer is "Yield to every vehicle already circulating in the roundabout."

A driver approaching a roundabout yields to any vehicle already circulating inside. Choice A is the trap: drivers used to the yield-to-the-right rule at unsigned intersections carry that habit into the roundabout instead of learning the roundabout's own rule.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Yield only to vehicles entering on your immediate right.

Roundabouts use a circulating-traffic priority rule, not a right-hand priority rule. Borrows the yield-to-the-right habit from unsigned four-way intersections, missing that the manual gives roundabouts their own priority rule.

B. Enter as soon as you arrive; circulating traffic yields to you.

Entering traffic yields to circulating traffic, not the other way around. Carries the 'first to arrive gets right-of-way' rule from uncontrolled intersections into a roundabout, where entering drivers always yield instead.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Right of Way in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Roundabouts," p.40..

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