6.3 Parking, Merging, Roundabouts, and Highway Entries/Exits

Parking Rules

Learn to Ride Smart gives motorcycle-specific parking advice and then a list of places where parking is illegal — and the distances are published, so learn them.

How to park a motorcycle

• Park at a 45-degree angle to the curb when you park on a street. This makes the motorcycle visible to drivers looking for a parking space and gives you the best view when you pull back into traffic.
• Choose firm, level ground. A side stand sinks into hot asphalt or soft gravel and the bike goes over.
• If you must park on a slope, face uphill and leave the motorcycle in gear. That is ICBC's rule for motorcycles — leaving it in gear is what stops it rolling, not a parking brake.
• Look for "Motorcycle OK" signs, which mark parking set aside for motorcycles.
• Back into a stall so you do not have to reverse out. Better still, if two empty stalls face each other with no barrier, ride through one into the next so the motorcycle ends up facing out.

Where it is illegal to park

Park badly and you are not just risking a ticket or a tow: a motorcycle in the wrong place is a serious hazard to other road users.

Merging onto Highways

A highway entrance ramp is where riders get up to speed and find a gap. The sequence from Learn to Ride Smart:

1. Match speed on the ramp. By the time you reach the end of the acceleration lane, your speed should be close to the flow speed of the through lane. Coming in too slow forces through traffic to brake; coming in too fast leaves no time to pick a gap.
2. Signal early. Put your signal on while still on the ramp so highway drivers can plan around you.
3. Mirror check, then shoulder check. Look for a gap and confirm the blind spot beside you is clear.
4. Choose a gap. Aim for a gap that is already opening; do not force a closing one. Adjust your speed slightly — a touch faster or slower — to meet a gap rather than braking hard.
5. Merge smoothly. Move into the through lane at a shallow angle and cancel your signal. Keep your lane position steady as traffic settles around you.

Highway Exits

Exiting a highway is the mirror image of merging:

• Signal early for the exit.
• Move into the exit lane well before the gore point (the painted triangle where the exit separates). Do not cut the gore.
• Slow to the posted ramp speed only once you are fully in the exit lane, not while you are still in through traffic.
• Shoulder-check at the top of the ramp if traffic ahead is slowing, because rear traffic may still be at highway speed.

Roundabouts

A roundabout is a circular intersection where traffic moves counter-clockwise around a centre island (as it does everywhere traffic drives on the right). ICBC's rules:

• Choose your lane on the approach. Lane-use signs or road markings tell you which lane to use. Left lane to turn left, right lane to turn right, either lane to go straight where both are permitted.
• Slow down as you approach.
• Yield to pedestrians who are crossing or about to cross at the crosswalk set back from the roundabout.
• Yield to any traffic already in the roundabout, regardless of which direction it came from.
• Do not change lanes inside a roundabout. If you entered in the left lane, stay in it — you may go straight or turn left from that lane.
• Do not ride alongside large vehicles such as trucks and buses in a roundabout: they may need more than their own lane to get through.
• Signal right in advance of your exit, and be prepared to yield again to pedestrians in the crosswalk at the exit.
• If an emergency vehicle is approaching, do not block the roundabout. Either stop before entering, or exit and then pull over to let it pass.

Roundabout Flow (Single-Lane)

graph TD
    A[Approach<br/>slow down] --> B[Yield to traffic<br/>already circulating]
    B --> C[Traffic clear?<br/>Enter when safe]
    C --> D[Travel<br/>counter-clockwise]
    D --> E[Signal right<br/>before your exit]
    E --> F[Exit to the right<br/>cancel signal]

Multi-Lane Roundabout Lane Choice

On a roundabout with two lanes, the typical lane rule (check local signs, which override defaults) is:

Some roundabouts have lane-use signs on the approach. Follow the signs, not the general rule, whenever they conflict. Hold your lane through the circle; do not cross the painted lines while circulating, because a vehicle beside you may be exiting.

Key Idea for the Test

Cul-de-sacs and turning around

A cul-de-sac is a dead-end street with a turning bulb at the end. Use the bulb to turn around rather than reversing — a motorcycle has no reverse gear and pushing it backwards on a camber is how new riders drop bikes. Ride around the bulb in the same counter-clockwise direction traffic takes, watching for children and parked cars.

Where there is no bulb, the safest way to reverse direction is a three-point turn on a quiet, level street with clear sight lines in both directions: signal, check both ways, turn across into the opposite curb, walk the motorcycle back with the engine idling and your feet down, then pull away in the new direction. Never attempt one on a curve, near a crest, or on a busy road — ride on and find a block to circle instead. The motorcycle skills test includes U-turns or three-point turns, so this is worth practising in a parking lot.

Key Idea for the Test

Three words carry most of Chapter 5: yield, signal, position. Yield to whoever already has the lane (through traffic, pedestrians, circulating traffic in a roundabout). Signal early so others can plan around you. Position your motorcycle for visibility and space, not for speed. Get those three right and the rules-of-the-road questions on the knowledge test become predictable.