Roundabout road rage

canaster

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

hmmm maybe she didn't have her lights on?

It is unlikely; but I shall be printing all the emails off and then interrogating her tonight over a bottle of sparkling. Perhaps when her tongue is a bit looser I might be able to extract some sort of a confession out of her. Until then, the most likely answer, as frequently given here, is that the horny driver was a numpty.:beer:

Lum

One other possibility, has the lane layout of that roundabout changed in the last 15 years? Far too often I see a roundabout layout change and large numbers of people never notice and carry on using it under the old rules.

The worst example that I personally remember is the roundabout on M53 J4, which carries a lot of local traffic. about 10 years ago it was changed into a spiral type causing many older people to enter their usual lane, not realise they were being spiralled out towards the edge, make a lane change realise at the last moment and swerve back across before they got dumped out of the wrong exit, often without checking to their right before doing so.

So if it's the case that 10 years ago that roundabout was 1st-exit-only in the left lane, perhaps changing when the Tesco was built, then the muppet believed your friend to be in the wrong by not turning left and thus occupying the space he needed to be in in order to "correctly" take the second exit.

canaster

Lum wrote: »

One other possibility, has the lane layout of that roundabout changed in the last 15 years? Far too often I see a roundabout layout change and large numbers of people never notice and carry on using it under the old rules.

The worst example that I personally remember is the roundabout on M53 J4, which carries a lot of local traffic. about 10 years ago it was changed into a spiral type causing many older people to enter their usual lane, not realise they were being spiralled out towards the edge, make a lane change realise at the last moment and swerve back across before they got dumped out of the wrong exit, often without checking to their right before doing so.

So if it's the case that 10 years ago that roundabout was 1st-exit-only in the left lane, perhaps changing when the Tesco was built, then the muppet believed your friend to be in the wrong by not turning left and thus occupying the space he needed to be in in order to "correctly" take the second exit.

I dont think it has changed over the last few years. My first thought was that he believed she was in the wrong lane for the second exit. This forum throws up interesting lines of inquiry which I will be going through with her tonite. I certainly need more information about the traffic situation at the time. Will report back tomorrow any new developments.

anotherbaldrick

Lane markings on entry roads , no markings through roundabout.

Norman_Castle

If the picture above is the island, most or all of the entrances are double lane. All exits are single lane. To exit, I would move to the outside of what is a wide, single lane island. If a car ahead of me was in this position they would have priority to exit the island. Your friend met an poor or inexperienced driver who blamed her for his mistake.

canaster

Indout96 wrote: »

Did she stay in her lane going around the roundabout or was she straying in to his lane as many people do, that is the only reason I can see for the other driver using the horn.

The number of people who start in the left lane, then drift into the right lane on a roundabout before going off at the exit seem to be getting more and more lately

Having discussed the incident with her at some length I think this may have played a part in provoking the "severe" horn blast. I asked her "did you tuck into the left hand lane as you were going around the roundabout"? She said, "Not entirely, as I did not want him to think I was taking the first exit! But she added, "there was still plenty of room for him to pass on the right hand side".

The driver of the other vehicle entered the roundabout in the right hand lane which is marked for those leaving at the third and fourth exit. He was in the wrong lane as it was his intention to leave the roundabout at the second exit. (He was en-route to the Supermarket). His intention was obviously to overtake her and cut in front to grab the second exit before her.

By not hugging the left lane tightly enough he must have felt that she was frustrating his goal, and hence the severe horn blast. The outcome was that he dropped back behind her and left the second exit after her. He could have done this without the horn blast after all he was in the wrong lane to begin with and should have followed her onto the roundabout in the left hand lane.

My intention here has been to try and gain some insight into the situation so we can learn any lessons from it which will help prevent it happening to her again. I have advised her that in future, when she takes this roundabout she would do well to hug the left hand lane, and clearly signal her intentions. And, of course, to expect the unexpected! She seems happy with this conclusion, and advice.

So thanks to all who contributed to this debate. Your insights have been invaluable in helping us to identify the possible causes of this incident and have enabled us to bring this unpleasant event to a satisfactory conclusion.

We can now make some sense of what seemed to be before, a completely irrational and unprovoked case of road rage.

Wig

canaster wrote: »

I suggested that to her but she said that the blast on the horn was extremely aggressive; not the kind that signals the presence of the driver or his intentions.

How would one determine that then? By the length of the blast I suppose, so it was a long blast? Not a toot or a toooot but a toooooooooooot.

She should not signal on entry, and signal left after the first exit.

As the toot came before 1st exit the only logic is that she strayed right. Maybe there was enough room to her right in her mind, but a driver behind seeing a car veering right is not going to know that it will eventually stop veering right, and may have to brake to avoid a potential collision. maybe although she thought there was enough room, in reality there wasn't.

Granadalad

Your friend might be enlightened/reassured by watching traffic at that roundabout for 5 mins. Exemplary behaviour/signalling and idiot lane changing will be evident in no time as it always is at my nearest roundabout. Interestingly it seems to be motorcycles that are most consistently safe users with correct signalling, almost as if every other vehicle is a mortal threat to them!

anotherbaldrick

canaster.
Having discussed the incident with her at some length I think this may have played a part in provoking the "severe" horn blast. I asked her "did you tuck into the left hand lane as you were going around the roundabout"? She said, "Not entirely, as I did not want him to think I was taking the first exit! But she added, "there was still plenty of room for him to pass on the right hand side".

I think your friend has fallen foul of what is the most common problem on our roads. If you look at the Google shot of the roundabout you will see it is not marked into lanes , this is common with most roundabouts which are unmarked . Only the entry roads are lane marked. The driver therefore has to imagine lane markings and stay within that mental image, but that road , how many lanes 2 ? , 3 ?, the road is wide enough for 3 . This can always be a problem . We have a similar situation near us , 3 lanes in left lane peels left other two straight on , you just have to watch the other drivers and assess which lanes they are going to take. Most get it right but some wishing to go straight ahead get in left hand lane and halfway round find ther lane has faded out so chop into the adjoining lane .
Experience warns you they will do something dodgy so adjust your position not to be alongside them when they do it.

canaster

Wig wrote: »

How would one determine that then? By the length of the blast I suppose, so it was a long blast? Not a toot or a toooot but a toooooooooooot.

She should not signal on entry, and signal left after the first exit.

As the toot came before 1st exit the only logic is that she strayed right. Maybe there was enough room to her right in her mind, but a driver behind seeing a car veering right is not going to know that it will eventually stop veering right, and may have to brake to avoid a potential collision. maybe although she thought there was enough room, in reality there wasn't.

I think you are right on all counts Wig. It was a long blast of the horn I think you also got the driver "psychology" bang on.