# What direction do you yield to on a traffic cirlce in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-direction-do-you-yield-to-on-a-traffic-cirlce-in-the-us/101506 "2002-04-03T00:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrAndrewV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@MrAndrewV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAndrewV)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-direction-do-you-yield-to-on-a-traffic-cirlce-in-the-us/101506/1 "2002-04-03T00:05:37Z")
See here in RSA we drive on the left hand side of the road and yield to the right on a traffic circle. This seem illogical and I was just wondering whether countries that drive on the right hand side also yield to the right or whether they yield to the left. This shouldnt take long. Thanx -Andrew V ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-direction-do-you-yield-to-on-a-traffic-cirlce-in-the-us/101506/2 "2002-04-03T00:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrAndrewV \* > \*\*See here in RSA we drive on the left hand side of the road and yield to the right on a traffic circle. This seem illogical and I was just wondering whether countries that drive on the right hand side also yield to the right or whether they yield to the left. > > This shouldnt take long. > > Thanx > -Andrew V \*\* Around here (California) those in the circle have the right-of-way. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-direction-do-you-yield-to-on-a-traffic-cirlce-in-the-us/101506/3 "2002-04-03T01:24:12Z")
In New York State, this question is made confusing by the fact that there are two kinds of circular intersections, the “roundabout” and the “traffic circle”: > [@](#): > > _from the [NYSDOT](http://www.dot.state.ny.us/roundabouts/back.html) website:_ > Modern roundabouts follow the “yield-at-entry” rule in which approaching vehicles must wait for a gap in the circulating flow before entering the circle. Many traffic circles in the United States require circulating vehicles to grant the right of way to entering vehicles though few, if any, of these type circles exist in New York State. Some traffic circles also use stop signs or signals to control vehicle entry. However, my Drivers’ Ed teacher (who was an idiot who gave me lots of misinformation on other things, including how to react to traffic cops, but we won’t get into that) never made a distinction between roundabouts and traffic circles. There’s a roundabout in a town about fifteen miles from my hometown, and we drove on it several times in Drivers’ Ed, and each time we were told that even though the signs said that incoming traffic must yield, a real traffic circle would mean that the people in the circle would have to yield to _us_. This served only to confuse us all even more… Hell, I’m _still_ confused. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-direction-do-you-yield-to-on-a-traffic-cirlce-in-the-us/101506/4 "2002-04-03T05:34:42Z")
Duplicate thread. See [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107304](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107304)