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Signalling appropriate in and out of roundabouts

Roundabouts are essentially four-way stops, in a circle without stop signs
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Dear Editor,

A common sense note on signaling before entering a roundabout. If a roundabout has more than four legs, such as the two in a row at the McCallum exit off Hwy 1 in Abbotsford, it may not be correct to signal before entering the roundabout.

The majority of roundabouts have only 4 legs, and it is totally in order to signal your intentions ahead of entering the circle, exactly as you would at the old four-way stop that precluded the roundabout.

The signal is to indicate what your intentions are preceding your entry into the circle.

Once you are in the circle, you alone have the right of way over all other traffic approaching the traffic circle. No one is allowed to interfere with your passage through the circle. They must yield.

Jeff Laurie, Langley

Editor’s note: ICBC recommends signalling “a right turn just before you exit a roundabout,” and the Ministry of Transportation sees roundabouts as “essentially a four-way intersection” and its protocol agrees with Mr. Laurie’s call for also signalling the ultimate intention (right, straight, or left) before entering the roundabout.

READ ALSO: Fort Langley driver lobbies for roundabout signalling