MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

The Proper Way to Approach a Traffic and Mini Circle

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Hello Alan,

I’m writing to you, because I feel strongly about the general lack of understanding that people have regarding the use of mini circles. The vast majority of “traffic circles” in Port Elizabeth are in fact mini-circles. A summary of the law basically says that at a traffic circle you yield to the right. A mini circle on the other hand, is treated in a similar fashion to a four-way stop. In other words, if I reach the yield line before anybody else and I can enter the intersection without obstructing another vehicle already within the circle, I may proceed. I am not required to yield to the right at a mini circle.

Here are two links which provide more details.

I’d really appreciate it, if you would consider doing an awareness campaign of sorts on your mype.co.za website.

Kind regards,

Gareth
Straton Electrical

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.

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Comments

  1. Most of the mini circles have speed humps on the approach to them, If all sides are clearly visible, the first one over the hump is a good guage of who gets into the circle first. This is a serious bug bear of mine too and I always find it fascinating how indignant the driver at fault gets, when it is pointed out to them that they don’t have the right of way.
    Thanks for taking the time to write your letter, Gareth – lets hope that it goes some way towards resolving this rather irritating issue.

  2. “Mini circle”, “roundabout”, traffic circle – there is no distinction in the law – the confusion is caused by the K53 Learner’s Test, compounded by the Arrive Alive Campaign.

    “NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS, 2000

    301. The driver of a vehicle on a public road shall, when he or she intends entering any portion of a public road which constitutes a junction of two or more public roads where vehicular traffic is required to move around a traffic island
    within such junction, yield the right of way to all vehicular traffic approaching from his or her right within such junction, unless his or her entry into such junction is controlled by an instruction given by a traffic officer or a direction conveyed by a road traffic sign requiring him or her to act differently.”

    Therefore, it’s safer to yield to the right when approaching a traffic circle/roundabout/mini circle than to argue in court about it’s size – which does not matter in this instance.