You are driving in a multi-lane roundabout and come up behind a bicyclist riding in your lane. What does the manual say to do?
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A.
Sound your horn and change lanes to pass the bicyclist.
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B.
Move onto the roundabout's shoulder to get around the bicyclist.
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C.
Pass the bicyclist as soon as you enter the roundabout.
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D.
Wait to pass; do not pass a bicyclist while inside the roundabout. Correct
The answer is "Wait to pass; do not pass a bicyclist while inside the roundabout."
The manual is direct: drivers should not pass a bicyclist while inside the roundabout. The cyclist has already picked their lane for the exit they want, and squeezing past them mid-loop puts both of you at risk. Choice A is the reflex of drivers who treat the horn as a substitute for waiting, but the roundabout gives the cyclist almost no room to react to a car swinging around them.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Sound your horn and change lanes to pass the bicyclist.
Passing a bicyclist inside the roundabout is what the manual forbids, horn or no horn. This answer uses the horn as a shortcut around the rule, a habit drivers pick up from wanting to keep moving in slow traffic.
B. Move onto the roundabout's shoulder to get around the bicyclist.
The manual tells riders not to use the shoulder and does not send cars there either. This answer treats the shoulder as an escape lane, when the manual keeps it out of the roundabout's traffic pattern entirely.
C. Pass the bicyclist as soon as you enter the roundabout.
The manual bans passing a bicyclist inside the roundabout, whether at entry or later. This answer treats an entry gap as a passing window, when the manual's ban covers the whole loop.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Tips & Reminders," p.59..
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