Two-Lane Roundabout: Cyclist Inside, Semi Behind
On a Saturday in Coeur d'Alene you approach a two-lane roundabout on a 35 mph arterial. You plan to take the second exit, which is straight ahead. As you enter the right lane, you see a cyclist in that same right lane, already inside the circle and pedaling at about 12 mph; her left arm goes out for a moment, then she puts both hands back on the bars. A tractor-trailer is in the left lane, slightly behind you, its right turn signal flashing. The roundabout has a raised truck apron on the inside. Traffic in the circle is light, but a red pickup is approaching from your left, not yet at the yield line. You have about 3 seconds to decide what to do.
1. Who must yield to whom as you, the red pickup, the cyclist, and the semi all converge?
Read the worked answer
The rule at a roundabout is yield to traffic already circulating, and that includes bicycles. The cyclist is already inside the circle, so she has priority over you and over the red pickup. The red pickup, still short of its yield line, must yield to circulating traffic - you if you have already entered, and certainly the cyclist. You must yield to anything already in the circle, including the semi if it has crossed the line ahead of you.
The semi's flashing right signal complicates things. A large vehicle in the left lane may need to swing right before turning, and the truck apron exists because trailers off-track over the inside curb. A signal from a semi is not a guarantee of its path, so treat the truck as potentially occupying both lanes and do not slip up its right side.
2. You want the second exit. Which lane should you use, and what do you do about the cyclist in that lane?
Read the worked answer
For a straight-through second exit, entering in the right lane is correct in a two-lane roundabout. But the cyclist is already in that lane, and you must not overtake her inside the circle. Passing a cyclist in a roundabout - on either side - is how riders get squeezed against the curb or cut off at an exit.
The safe sequence is to slow to her pace, stay several car lengths back, and let her clear the exit before you accelerate. If you have not yet reached the yield line and the gap is closing, wait at the line and enter behind her instead of trying to beat her into the circle. Your 3-second window should be spent slowing, not deciding to squeeze past.
3. The semi's right signal is flashing while it sits in the left lane. What does that tell you, and what is your move?
Read the worked answer
It tells you the truck may be turning right from the left lane, or that the driver is signaling early to warn that the trailer will cut across the right lane. Either way, the area to the truck's right is exactly where you should not be. A tractor-trailer turning right needs extra room, and the trailer's rear wheels track well inside the tractor's path - the apron is there to accommodate that off-tracking.
Hold back and give the truck room to commit. Do not assume the signal is an error and do not use the right lane to sneak past. If the truck does turn right, it will sweep through the space your car would occupy; if it goes straight, you have lost only a few seconds.