Traffic in the roundabout follows certain rules established by the Highway Code 2025, but not all drivers know these rules. For example, is it legal to turn left before such an intersection?
When the traffic is not very heavy or the space is generous, there are drivers who no longer go around the roundabout to turn.
Rather, they simply turn left as soon as they enter the intersection, turning right through the center of the roundabout.
How does traffic flow in a roundabout?
The main rule of the roundabout is that those inside it have priority. And those who are going to enter these intersections are obliged to stop and give priority.
But because roundabouts can have two or more lanes, an additional rule has been established.
„In the case of intersections with roundabouts, drivers must comply with the rules regarding traffic in the lanes, having the obligation to signal in time to leave the intersection and ensure that they can do so without disrupting traffic or endangering the safety of other road users”, is established by Art 107, point 1.1, from law 195/2002.
Which means that drivers have the obligation to signal when changing from one lane to another and to give priority to those in the lane they are about to enter.
For example, a driver in lane 2 of the roundabout, i.e. the lane closest to the middle of the intersection, must signal and give priority to those in lane 1 when they want to exit the roundabout.
According to the graph above, the driver of the orange car (blue line) is obliged to give priority to the green car (red line). Because it makes a lane change to exit the roundabout, while the green car keeps its lane.
2025: Is it legal to turn left before a roundabout?
If you want to turn, then you are obliged to do this maneuver around the roundabout. So it is not legal to make a left-round before the roundabout, thus going through the inside of this intersection.
Because, in the roundabout, it always travels in one direction, so you have to go around the center of the intersection on the right side. Or, in countries such as the UK, where traffic flows on the left, bypassing the center is done on the left.
„It constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with the fine provided for in the III class of sanctions and with the application of the complementary contraventional sanction of suspending the right to drive for a period of 60 days (…) driving in the opposite direction, except in cases where regular overtaking maneuver“, establishes Art. 101 (3-d) of GEO 195/2002.
Traffic in the opposite direction in the roundabout results in a fine of up to 1,620 lei. And the driver remains without a license for 60 days.
Or, if the authorities have set up a special space to make this turn, separate from the roundabout, then it is legal to perform such a maneuver.
Source: www.promotor.ro
