Do I need to use my turn signal in the roundabout?

Short answer: No, under current statewide Indiana law you don’t have to use your turn signal in a roundabout.

Here’s how we got there, and where that 2019–2020 court fight comes in.

What Indiana’s turn-signal law actually says

Indiana’s main turn-signal statute says that a driver must signal continuously for at least 200 feet before turning or changing lanes (300 feet in faster speed zones).

That language was written long before roundabouts started popping up all over the state. It imagines old-school intersections with straight approaches and clear left or right turns—not a circular intersection where you’re basically following a curve in the road.

Importantly, Indiana’s roundabout statutes don’t mention turn signals at all. They deal with things like right-of-way for long vehicles in roundabouts, not signaling.

So for years, officers and drivers were guessing: does the “200-foot” rule apply to roundabouts?

The key case:

State v. Davis

and the “square peg” problem

In a 2018 traffic stop, a driver went through a roundabout and exited without using a turn signal. An officer pulled him over for that alone, then found drugs and charged him with several crimes. The driver argued the stop was illegal because he hadn’t actually broken the turn-signal law.

In 2020, the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with him in State v. Davis, 143 N.E.3d 343 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020).

The court’s reasoning, in plain English:

• When you enter a roundabout, you’re just following the curve of the road. Treating that as a “turn” that requires a signal would be “nonsensical.”

• When you exit a roundabout, the statute’s 200-foot requirement doesn’t fit. Many roundabout approaches and exits aren’t even 200 feet long, so you literally cannot comply as written.

• The court called the turn-signal statute “a square peg that cannot fit into the roundabout hole” and said if Indiana wants a signal rule for roundabouts, the legislature has to write one.

The evidence from the stop was thrown out, and the criminal case collapsed.

Although the big roundabout ruling came from the Court of Appeals rather than a full written opinion of the Indiana Supreme Court, it fits with a broader trend in that period (around 2018–2019) where the Supreme Court was telling lower courts: don’t stretch traffic statutes beyond what they actually say.

The Supreme Court did not step in to change the outcome in Davis, so that interpretation of the law stands.

So… do you need to signal in an Indiana roundabout?

Legally, as of now:

• You are not required by Indiana’s statewide turn-signal statute to signal when entering or exiting a roundabout.

• There is no specific state law that fills that gap for roundabouts.

• A proposed local rule in Carmel to require signals on exit was considered and rejected.

Thanks for reading the blog. I provide driving lessons across many counties in Southern Indiana, including Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Brown, Decatur, Scott, Clark, Jefferson, Shelby Counties. Driver Education, This is The Way!