Roundabout rules
Ian Lister
In the meeting this week we discussed some of the road rules that we
believe are unfair to cyclists and would like to see changed. One issue in
particular was in relation to cyclists being required to give way to other
vehicles on multi-lane roundabouts. I looked at the road rules for
roundabouts and I presume s119 "Giving way by the rider of a bicycle or
animal to a vehicle leaving a roundabout" (which applies only to riders on
multi-lane roundabouts, and only when in the leftmost lane) is the
specific section at issue?
I had thought that motor vehicles on multi-lane roundabouts were also
required to give way to vehicles leaving the roundabout, but I can't see
any rule at all about motor vehicles giving way to each other on
roundabouts. s114 "Giving way when entering or driving in a roundabout"
talks only about giving way to a tram, s117 "Giving a change of direction
signal when changing marked lanes or lines of traffic in a roundabout" is
only about indication, s26 and s44 exclude roundabouts from the relevant
bits of Part 4 "Making turns", and I don't see anything about roundabouts
or changing lanes in Part 7 "Giving way". s148 "Giving way when moving
from 1 marked lane or line of traffic to another marked lane or line of
traffic" refers to "A driver on a multi-lane road" and "A driver on a road
with 2 or more lines of traffic" - I guess that includes roundabouts?
While we're here, it's probably worth pointing out s111(6) and (7), which
largely exclude bicycles from the requirements to use the right lane to
turn right, and are possibly part of the rationale for the existence of
s119. I had thought there was also an explicit rule (similar to s35
"Optional hook turn by a bicycle rider") that allowed cyclists to stick to
the outside of a roundabout as long as they gave way at each exit, but I
can't see it. I guess it's really just a combination of s111(6), (7) and
s119, but I thought the obligation to give way only existed if you chose
to navigate the roundabout in this manner - I guess I was wrong?
Any other thoughts/observations/interpretations?
Ian