6.2 All-Way Stops and Roundabouts

6.2 All-Way Stops and Roundabouts

Quick Answer: At an Indiana all-way stop, stop, look, and proceed when it is safe — the same first move as a two-way stop. The first vehicle to stop is the first to proceed. If you arrive at the same time, the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way. If you have any doubt or there is a chance of a crash, yield. A roundabout is a circular intersection: you enter and exit only through right turns and travel counterclockwise. Incoming traffic always yields to circulating traffic. In a multi-lane roundabout, choose your lane before you enter and do not change lanes in the circulatory roadway. Never walk across circulating lanes to the center island. Yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to traffic in the roundabout. Yield to large vehicles using the roundabout at the same time; if two large trucks are there together, the driver in the right lane must yield to the driver in the left lane.

All-way stops and roundabouts both replace a conventional green-yellow-red cycle, but they do not use the same yield rule. Mixing them is a high-value knowledge-exam trap.

All-way stops

The Driver's Manual says the rules for an all-way stop are like those for a two-way stop: stop and look for oncoming traffic, then proceed when it is safe. You still make a complete stop. You still scan left, right, and the crosswalk. The extra all-way rules decide who moves first after everyone has stopped.

1. The first vehicle to stop at the intersection is the first to proceed through the intersection.
2. If you arrive at the same time as another driver, the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way.
3. If there is any doubt which driver has the right of way, or if there is the chance of a crash, it is better to yield the right of way to the other driver.

Vehicle on the left shall yield means the driver on the right goes first when the arrival is a tie. That is the same idea as the dark-signal list in the next section (yield to the vehicle that arrived at the same time and is to your right), just worded from the other seat. Learn both phrasings.

What the all-way rule is not:

• It is not the larger vehicle always waits.
• It is not wave everyone through and sit.
• It is not the first bumper to roll into the crosswalk without stopping wins. First to stop is first to proceed.
• It is not an excuse to go when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk.

A related Chapter 6 signal rule, already taught with flashing red, matches this: if a flashing red faces all approaches, you stop, then yield to anyone already in the intersection and anyone who stopped before you; ties go to the driver who is not on the left. Do not restudy the whole signal chapter here — just notice that all-way STOP signs and all-way flashing reds share the same courtesy order.

Roundabouts: right turns only, counterclockwise

A roundabout is a circular intersection in which traffic enters or exits only through right turns and proceeds in a counterclockwise direction. When approaching, incoming traffic always yields to the circulating traffic. You do not take your turn the way you do at an all-way stop. If a vehicle is already in the circle, you wait.

You yield at the yield line markings. The raised splitter island on the approach separates you from the exit lane and aims you into the circle. The center island is not a pedestrian refuge you walk to. Never walk across the circulating lane(s) in a roundabout to the center island. Crosswalks sit on the approaches. Approaching vehicles must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to traffic in the roundabout.

Speed advisory plates sometimes appear with roundabout warnings; those belong with the warning-sign chapter. Here, the operating rule is yield, then a right-turn entry, then counterclockwise travel, then a right-turn exit.

Multi-lane roundabouts and large vehicles

If the circulatory roadway has more than one lane, know which lane you need before entering. Drivers should not change lanes in the circulatory roadway. Signs, pavement markings, or both are provided to guide you to the proper lane in advance. Typical lane-control signs split movements (for example, left lane versus right lane). Pick the lane that matches your exit before you pass the yield line.

A smaller car beside a tractor-trailer or bus is a known hazard. When approaching or driving through a multi-lane roundabout, drivers must yield the right of way to large vehicles driving through at the same time. That includes slowing down or stopping to allow safe passage.

If two large trucks are approaching or driving through at the same time, the driver in the right lane must yield the right of way to the driver in the left lane, including slowing or stopping so the left-lane truck can pass safely. Left-lane trucks often need extra width to off-track through the curve; crowding them from the right is how cars get pinched.

Traffic circle versus roundabout

A traffic circle differs from a roundabout. A circle may have clockwise and counterclockwise traffic. Approaches to a traffic circle may also be controlled by stop signs instead of yield signs. Do not assume every circular intersection is a modern roundabout with a yield-on-entry, counterclockwise-only pattern. Read the signs actually posted.

Indiana scenarios

Four-way in a neighborhood. You and a driver on the cross street stop together. You are on that driver's left, so you yield. If you are unsure who rocked to a stop first, yield anyway.

Single-lane roundabout on a state road. A car is already circulating. You yield. You enter with a right turn, travel counterclockwise, and exit with a right turn. You do not stop in the circle to take turns as if it were an all-way stop.

Two-lane roundabout near a beltway. The lane-control sign shows your exit from the right lane. You get in that lane before the yield line and stay there. A tractor-trailer is beside you: slow or stop so the truck can occupy the space it needs. If that truck is in the left lane and another truck is in yours, you yield.

Pedestrian at the splitter island. Someone is in the crosswalk. Yield to that pedestrian and to circulating traffic. Do not wave a pedestrian toward the center island across circulating lanes.

Exam traps

• Treating a roundabout like an all-way stop (first-to-stop proceeds; incoming cars take turns with circulating cars).
• Forgetting that incoming traffic always yields to circulating traffic.
• Changing lanes inside the circle.
• Walking to the center island.
• Yielding the wrong way when two trucks share a multi-lane roundabout (right yields to left).
• Calling a traffic circle a roundabout even when it allows both directions or uses stop signs.
• Going first at an all-way stop because you got there with more speed instead of because you stopped first.

Stop, then first-stopped-first-out at an all-way. Yield to the circle, then right-in / counterclockwise / right-out at a roundabout.