Indiana law defines “roundabout” as “a circular intersection or junction in which road traffic flows almost continuously in one (1) direction around a central island.” I.C.§ 9-13-2-157.5. Other than defining roundabouts, our legislature has enacted few traffic regulation statutes that expressly address roundabouts. For instance, our legislature has mandated that “a vehicle passing around a roundabout shall be driven only to the right of the roundabout’s central island.” I.C.§ 9-21-8-10.
Moreover, our legislature has reserved the right-of-way in roundabouts for vehicles with a total length of at least 40 feet or a total width of at least 10 feet.
I.C.§ 9-21-8-10.5. This is where this roundabout guidance, both literally and figuratively, begins and ends.
Note, when motorists are entering a roundabout, they are simply following the roadway and continuing along the natural flow of the road, similar to when coming upon a curve in the road. Accordingly, it would be nonsensical to read the current turn signal statute as requiring motorists to activate their right-turn signals when entering a roundabout, especially if they simply mean to travel in a continuous lane and move through the roundabout. In that circumstance, the driver is not making a choice between alternatives that other motorists need to be alerted to for safety purposes; the driver is neither turning nor changing lanes, so there is nothing to signal.
However, trucks do have right-of-way claims in a roundabout. When approaching or driving through a roundabout, a person driving a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to the driver of a vehicle with a total length of at least 40 feet or a total width of at least 10 feet that is driving through the roundabout at the same time or so closely as to present an immediate hazard, and shall slow down or stop if necessary to yield. However, this subsection does not require a person who is driving a vehicle through a roundabout to yield the right-of-way to the driver of a vehicle with a total length of at least 40 feet or a total width of at least 10 feet that is approaching the roundabout. Thus, the driver of vehicle that is not a truck must take note of this provision.