What should you observe to choose the appropriate lane before entering a multi-lane roundabout?
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A.
Signs and pavement markings. Correct
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B.
The number of vehicles already circulating.
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C.
The color of the center island.
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D.
The traffic light at the entrance.
The answer is "Signs and pavement markings."
As you approach a multi-lane roundabout, read the signs and pavement markings and let them pick your lane. Choice D reaches for a habit carried over from intersections with a traffic light, where a light tells you when to enter; a roundabout uses yield rules for timing and signs and pavement markings for lane choice.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. The number of vehicles already circulating.
How busy the roundabout is affects when you can safely yield and enter, not which lane you choose; the signs and pavement markings do that. Confuses the yield decision about when to enter with the signs-and-markings decision about which lane to pick.
C. The color of the center island.
The center island does not tell you which lane to take; the signs and pavement markings at the approach do. Mistakes a visible landmark at the roundabout's center for the rule the manual actually prints at the approach.
D. The traffic light at the entrance.
A multi-lane roundabout has no entry light; signs and pavement markings pick the lane, and yielding to circulating traffic and bicyclists decides when entry is safe. Carries a timing habit from intersections with a traffic light into a design built to remove the light.
This question tests your knowledge of Road Markings in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Multi-Lane Roundabout," p.59..
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