AN ACT to amend and reenact section 39-10-16 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to rotary traffic islands.
SB 2371 amends North Dakota Century Code section 39-10-16, which governs one-way roadways and rotary traffic islands. The bill keeps the existing rule that vehicles traveling around a rotary traffic island must move to the right of the island, and it adds a new requirement that once a vehicle enters a rotary traffic island, it may not exit from any position within the island unless the driver first signals an intention to exit.
In practical terms, the measure clarifies and tightens traffic rules for roundabouts and similar rotary traffic features. It does not create a new traffic system or change broader roadway authority, but it does update the state’s traffic code to specify driver behavior within rotary traffic islands and reinforce safe, predictable movement through these intersections.
The bill makes a targeted amendment to the state traffic code by revising section 39-10-16 of the North Dakota Century Code. It affects drivers using rotary traffic islands, as well as law enforcement and local traffic authorities responsible for enforcing and posting traffic-control devices. The main legal change is the addition of an explicit signal-before-exiting requirement for vehicles already inside a rotary traffic island, which may be used in traffic enforcement and driver education.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 43-4 and the House 91-2, indicating strong bipartisan approval. The lack of committee transcripts or recorded debate in the provided materials suggests there was little public disagreement or extended discussion about the measure.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided record. The only visible division is the small number of negative votes in each chamber, but no reasons are given. Any disagreement likely would have centered on whether the added signaling requirement was necessary or whether existing traffic rules were sufficient, but the available materials do not identify any member or stakeholder opposition.