When you arrive at a roundabout, many motorists don’t always have a clear understanding of the situation regarding the stop and right of way. How should we behave? Here’s everything you need to know to never jeopardize overall road safety. If you don’t respect the rules, you risk incurring very heavy administrative fines. Let’s find out all the details.
Roundabouts are intersections between two or more roads. They can be found both in urban areas and on extra-urban roads. Their function is to streamline traffic and to slow down the speed in some dangerous points. More and more today we are seeing the emergence of new roundabouts instead of “slow” traffic lights.
Although they are increasingly present on the roads of our country, not all motorists understand the road rules in their presence. Often times, in fact, we witness real uncertainties of road users as regards the aspects relating to stopping and precedence.
Roundabouts have greatly improved safety on Italian roads, greatly reducing the number of accidents at junctions. As emerges from the data, in fact, the number of serious accidents in an intersection regulated by a traffic light is higher than in sections where there is a roundabout.
But how to behave at a roundabout? Who has precedence? Much will depend on the type of roundabout and on some specific cases. Here’s everything you need to know to never take any risks and not be fined. In the most serious cases, you risk even having your driving license suspended. Here are all the details about it.
Right of way in roundabouts: here’s what mistake you mustn’t make for any reason
We have mentioned the various types of rotunda and all the rules that can change in the presence of one or the other. Let’s find out how to behave in the presence of an Italian or a European roundabout. Rules of precedence vary, so it’s important to be aware of everything.
The Italian roundabout it is preceded only by the road sign of the roundabout. When you come across this kind of roundabout, you need to know that those coming from the right always have precedence. In this case, therefore, those who have already used the roundabout must give priority to those about to enter.
The European roundabout, instead, it prepares the presence of the signs regarding the stop and the giving of precedence. In this case, precedence always belongs to those who have already taken the roundabout. Whoever arrives at the crossroads, therefore, is required to stop and give way. He will be able to enter the roundabout only when no car is passing at that exact moment.
The advice we give, however, is to always adjust your speed and always look at the behavior of other vehicles. In fact, not everyone is aware of the exact rules and can make serious mistakes.
But what is the risk of those who do not respect the rules just set out on the right of way in the roundabout? If you enter a roundabout illegally, you risk being injured fine between 167 and 666 euros, according to the circumstances and the seriousness of the offense committed.
Also, there is no need for a patrol in the area. Indeed, if you cause problems in the roundabout, it is very likely that you can be “pinched” thanks to the presence of video surveillance cameras (provided they are present in that roundabout).
But in addition to the hefty fine we just mentioned, you can also run the risk of having points deducted from your licence. It is not fixed, but it can go up to 5 points taken off. Finally, anyone who makes several mistakes at roundabouts in a short time may face not only penalties and points removed from the license, but also a real Suspension of the latter. It can go from 1 to 3 months in total.
