Traffic circles (roundabouts)

Traffic on a traffic circle circulates clockwise, because Zimbabwe keeps to the left. Read the signs, the lane markings and the arrows painted on the road on the way in, and settle into the lane that suits your exit before you get there.

Traffic already circulating has absolute priority, so you give way to the right as you enter. That does not mean waiting for the circle to empty. You may enter ahead of a vehicle already going round, provided you can do it without getting in its way or causing its driver to brake or steer to avoid you. If you are not certain of that, wait.

Movement in a circle is complicated, because every driver in it is working across to an exit and a certain amount of weaving is unavoidable. That is why a circle asks for more alertness and more consideration than an ordinary intersection, not less.

Position and signals, unless signs or markings tell you otherwise:

• Taking the first exit, approach in the left lane, keep left round the circle and signal left.
• Going straight on, take the lane the markings give you and hold it round.
• Taking a later exit or going full circle, approach on the right and stay right until you are ready to come off.
• Whichever exit you want, signal left just after you pass the exit before it. That is the signal other drivers read to know you are leaving.

Watch what other vehicles are doing rather than what their indicators say. A driver who has not signalled, or who has left a signal on from the last exit, is common, and the line a vehicle is taking tells you more than its lamps. Before you move off in a queue at the entrance, look forward and check that the vehicle ahead of you has actually gone.