How to drive a roundabout in Ontario

The rule that makes it work

• Traffic moves counter-clockwise, keeping to the right of the central island.
• Traffic already in the roundabout has the right-of-way. Every entrance has a yield sign.
• Once you’re in, you have the right-of-way over cars waiting to enter, and you shouldn’t stop except to avoid a collision.

Approaching and entering

1. Read the signs early. A “roundabout ahead” warning sign shows arrows going counter-clockwise, and a guide sign shows the exits. Decide on your exit and your lane before you get close.
2. Slow down and watch for pedestrians crossing on your way up to the yield line.
3. Look left. Slow down or stop at the yield sign as needed.
4. Enter only when there’s a real gap. Don’t pull in right beside a car that’s already going around; it may be about to exit across your path.

Choosing a lane in a two-lane roundabout

Choose your lane the way you would at any intersection, and follow the signs and the arrows painted on the road. Never enter from the right lane if you want to turn left.

Signalling and exiting

• Turn on your right signal once you’ve passed the exit before the one you want.
• Leave in the same lane you were in: from the left lane into the left exit lane, from the right lane into the right.
• Exiting from the left lane? Watch for vehicles on your right that are still going around.
• Watch for pedestrians at the crosswalk on your way out.

Trucks and buses

Give large vehicles extra room. They may swing wide on the way in or while going around, and they can use the full width of the roundabout, including the apron: the raised, mountable ring around the central island that a trailer’s back wheels can ride over. A truck may need both lanes before it even enters. Never drive beside a truck in a roundabout, and never pass one.

If an ambulance or fire truck comes

• If you’re already in the roundabout, keep going to your exit, drive past the traffic island, then pull over.
• If you haven’t entered yet, pull over to the right if you can and wait.
• Never stop inside the roundabout to let it by.

Pedestrians and cyclists

Pedestrians cross at the entrances and exits, never through the central island, and the splitter islands give them a place to wait halfway. Hamilton’s advice for two-lane roundabouts is to watch for pedestrians and stop for them.

Cyclists either ride through like a car, keeping to the middle of the right lane, or get off and walk their bike across like a pedestrian. Give them the whole lane; don’t try to squeeze past.

Roundabouts vs. old traffic circles

Older traffic circles are bigger and faster, and drivers have to merge and weave across each other. Modern roundabouts are smaller, use islands at each entrance to slow traffic down, and work on a simple yield-to-the-left rule: whoever is already going around goes first.

Where to practise around Hamilton

• Binbrook has some of the most roundabouts close together: on Bradley Avenue at Whitwell Way, Magnificent Way and Windwood Drive, and where Binbrook Road meets Fall Fair Way. The Binbrook lessons page covers them.
• Ancaster has two-lane roundabouts on Wilson Street West, including at Shaver Road, and gentler single-lane ones on Stonehenge Drive in the Meadowlands. See lessons in Ancaster.
• Caledonia has a roundabout on McClung Road at MacLachlan Avenue and Thompson Road.