Roundabouts in Riga: why even experienced drivers get them wrong

Roundabouts look simple: everyone drives in one direction, there is no oncoming traffic. Yet on Riga's exam routes they reliably collect mistakes — from beginners and from drivers with years of experience who are exchanging a foreign licence for a Latvian one. The reason is almost always the same: people rely on a "roundabout rule" that does not exist in Latvian regulations.

Latvian traffic rules have no "circle has priority" clause

This is the key thing to understand. The Ceļu satiksmes noteikumi (Cabinet Regulation Nr. 279) contain no paragraph that by itself gives priority to vehicles already circulating. Priority at every roundabout is defined by the signs posted at its entrances.

In practice, nearly every roundabout in Latvia has a give-way sign 206, "Dodiet ceļu", before each entry. So day to day the picture looks familiar: entering drivers yield to those already on the circle. But they yield because of the sign — not because of any general roundabout rule.

The difference is not academic. If a particular entrance has no signs, the general right-hand rule applies (§133): you give way to whoever approaches from your right — and for a driver on the circle, the vehicle approaching from the right is precisely the one entering. In other words, without a sign, priority can belong to the entering driver. Such junctions are rare, but the underlying habit — "read the sign, do not trust the reflex" — is mandatory at every roundabout.

Why experienced drivers get caught

In many countries the circle has priority by default — in Russia, for instance, such a rule has been in force since 2017. A driver with long experience enters a roundabout on autopilot, without even looking for a sign: they are sure they already know the answer.

On the exam at CSDD (Ceļu satiksmes drošības direkcija, the Road Traffic Safety Directorate) this ends the same way every time: a hesitant or wrong decision at the entry, and the examiner marks a mistake. I see it regularly with students who are exchanging a foreign driving licence: their car control is excellent, and the stumbling block is precisely the automatic habits from another country. A few lessons go not into "learning to drive" but into retraining one single reflex: at every entrance, find the sign with your eyes.

Indicators: where to signal and where not to

The second steady source of mistakes. The logic of the rules:

Before any manoeuvre, the driver must signal in good time with the direction indicators (§57).
Before turning, you must take the appropriate edge position in advance — but for turning to enter a roundabout junction (sign 409), the rules make an explicit exception (§70).
When entering the roundabout, no separate signal is required: you are following the roadway, not performing a manoeuvre. A left indicator on entry is a habit imported from other countries — here it only confuses everyone else.
When changing lanes inside the circle — signal, as with any lane change.
Before exiting, the right indicator is mandatory: leaving a roundabout is a right turn, with all the usual requirements.

Lanes: enter from any lane, exit only from the outer one

On large two-lane roundabouts — you will find them on the city's edges and at major interchanges — the scheme is simple:

Enter from whichever lane continues onto the circle: as many lanes as feed in, that many can enter.
Exit only from the outer (right) lane. Move to the outside in good time before your exit, making sure you obstruct no one.

The most dangerous scenario on two-lane roundabouts is exiting from the inner lane across the path of someone driving in the outer one. On the exam it is a serious fault; in real life it is a classic collision. If you did not manage to move over in time for your exit, the calm and correct solution is to go around once more. That is not a mistake — that is the right decision.

Trams are a separate story

Central Riga has places where tram tracks cross a roundabout. The rule is easy to remember: where trajectories cross with equal rights, the tram goes first (§134). In those spots you watch not only the cars but also the rails.

What this means for the exam

The CSDD practical exam is roughly 40 minutes in real city traffic; routes are not published and they change. You cannot memorise "your" roundabout — and you do not need to: the logic is the same everywhere. Read the sign at the entrance, pick the lane that matches your exit, show the right indicator before leaving, never exit from the inner lane. I drill this set with students until it runs on its own — a few passes through different roundabouts are usually enough for the rush to disappear. For the bigger exam picture, see where candidates most often fail the CSDD exam in Riga, and the preparation format is on the CSDD exam preparation page.

This article describes the rules as of July 2026. Traffic regulations change — before your exam, check the current wording on likumi.lv and the information on csdd.lv.