Roundabouts are a key element in organizing and expediting traffic at a complex intersection. Although the first known roundabout in Spain was built in 1976 in Palmanova, in the municipality of Calvià (Mallorca), it was not until the 1990s that roundabouts became popular in our country. Today it is very common to come across a roundabout when we get behind the wheel, so we should be perfectly familiar with them. At least, in theory.
But it's not like that. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) assures in its publications that many drivers still do not know how to use roundabouts correctly. The data handled by the agency under the Ministry of the Interior are conclusive. One in three drivers who were involved in a roundabout accident in 2022 were committing an offence.
Both the DGT and the Civil Guard periodically remind drivers, through social networks, how they should drive around roundabouts to avoid the most dangerous imprudence. Apart from being able to star in an accident, driving incorrectly through a roundabout can lead to fines of various amounts. The highest could mean a fine of up to 500 euros and the loss of six points from the card, as you can read here.
As a general rule, the vehicles that circulate through a roundabout always have right of way over those that are going to join it. This is established in article 57 of the General Traffic Regulations (RGC). However, in practice this is not always the case as there are exceptions to the rule, as the Civil Guard warns in a message posted on its official Twitter profile.
La Benemérita recounts a situation in which the vehicles that circulate inside a roundabout do not have priority and must give way to others that access the roundabout. This exceptional case occurs when a group of cyclists are riding in a peloton and the first of them has already started the crossing. The Civil Guard explains that the vehicles that are inside the roundabout must wait for the last cyclist in the peloton to pass before continuing the march.
This is one of the cases in which drivers must yield the right-of-way to the most vulnerable road users. It is included in article 64 of the RGC on the priority of passage for cyclists. "Bicycle drivers have right of way over motor vehicles when the motor vehicle turns to the right or left to enter another road, in the permitted cases, and there is a cyclist in the vicinity."
The regulation delves into the specific case of roundabouts by establishing that cyclists have right of way "when traveling in a group, the first one has already started the crossing or has entered a roundabout". In this case, the set of cyclists is as if it formed a single imaginary vehicle, whose front part was the first cyclist and the rear the last, as the DGT graphically explains in its publications.
As can be seen from the comments, many users were unaware that in situations such as the one described in the Civil Guard tweet, the drivers of a motor vehicle have to give preference to the group of cyclists, even to those who have not entered the the roundabout
In the following video, we can see how the car that drives around the roundabout behaves correctly in front of the cyclists that drive in a group. Approaching alongside the peloton, the driver of the car slows to a near stop and continues his path until the last cyclist in the peloton has also joined the roundabout.
However, it must be noted that if the cyclist who is in the lead of the peloton is not yet inside the roundabout, the group does not have right of way. They will only be able to enter the roundabout when access to it is safe. The right-of-way corresponds to the vehicles that are currently circulating inside the roundabout.
Likewise, when a cyclist is traveling alone, they must also stop and wait for the entrance to the roundabout to be safe. When you are inside the roundabout, you will have right of way over vehicles that enter it due to your vulnerable condition.
