Roundabouts, does inside lane have priority onto it's left lane?

reeac

zagfles wrote: »

Because some roundabouts have 2-lane exits! Why do you think roundabouts have 2-lane exits if everyone has to be in the left lane to exit??

You also seem to think roundabout lanes are always concentric rings. They aren't. Often the left lane goes off at the next exit. See the example Alexis posted. If you took the left lane there when you weren't sure where you were going, you'd be one of the numpties who'd have to follow the red line, changing lanes and cutting up traffic! Whereas if you took the right lane the worst that would happen is you'd have to go once round the roundabout.

Roundabouts come in a variety of designs and so it's impossible to come up with a single recipe - commonsense is required. In the case of the roundabout shown in the aerial photo. the "crime" was not that the red line car was in the LH lane of a roundabout = it wasn't on the roundabout but it was blatantly in the wrong lane for entry onto the roundabout.

In the case of double lane exits, yes there is the potential for a collision and any newbie would be advised to keep in a lane further to the right.

prowla

AlexisV wrote: »

This is my nightmare roundabout. You set off from the lights together, but people have an inexplicable habit of following the red arrow, cutting into people who are going straight on.

The number of times I've nearly been hit by these idiots.

The problem with that roundabout is the road markings leading up to it ; they show straight on in the left lane, but the left lane is not normally straight on. IMHO the road markings approaching the roundabout should show left lane = turn left, middle lane = straight + turn left.

NBLondon

prowla wrote: »

The problem with that roundabout is the road markings leading up to it ; they show straight on in the left lane, but the left lane is not normally straight on. IMHO the road markings approaching the roundabout should show left lane = turn left, middle lane = straight + turn left.

It looks to me as if the road markings include the name (Strood Road?) and number for the first exit at 11 o'clockish. So it is that lane for that exit. Yeah - a left angled arrow with the name would be clearer.

deedee71

Can I try to explain a road rage incident I was involved in on Saturday and hopefully you guys can let me know if I was in the wrong?

Large roundabout with traffic lights, the left lane is empty on the roundabout and a queue of traffic in the middle lane (about 6 cars). Both left and middle can go straight on.

I enter onto the roundabout to go straight on and am in the left lane. The lights on the roundabout also change to green and the queue of traffic in the middle lane moves forward.

One of the cars in the queue drifts over in front of me, fair enough there was room, but a second car also drifts over and nearly swipes right into the side of me.

Well the driver was incensed! Peeped his horn all the way behind me for 500 yards. By this time I'm at the next junction and am in the right hand lane. He stays in the left, comes to a halt beside me stopping all the traffic behind him and proceeds to continue to peep, shout and gesture. My 10 year old daughter was pale faced and shaken at this monster's behaviour just a few feet from her window.

Did I do something wrong? My light was green, the lights on the roundabout were green. Why did so many cars stay in the middle lane when the left lane was empty?

Any opinions?

Wongsky

deedee71 wrote: »

Can I try to explain a road rage incident I was involved in on Saturday and hopefully you guys can let me know if I was in the wrong?

Large roundabout with traffic lights, the left lane is empty on the roundabout and a queue of traffic in the middle lane (about 6 cars). Both left and middle can go straight on.

I enter onto the roundabout to go straight on and am in the left lane. The lights on the roundabout also change to green and the queue of traffic in the middle lane moves forward.

One of the cars in the queue drifts over in front of me, fair enough there was room, but a second car also drifts over and nearly swipes right into the side of me.

Well the driver was incensed! Peeped his horn all the way behind me for 500 yards. By this time I'm at the next junction and am in the right hand lane. He stays in the left, comes to a halt beside me stopping all the traffic behind him and proceeds to continue to peep, shout and gesture. My 10 year old daughter was pale faced and shaken at this monster's behaviour just a few feet from her window.

Did I do something wrong? My light was green, the lights on the roundabout were green. Why did so many cars stay in the middle lane when the left lane was empty?

Any opinions?

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong - sounds like you used the appropriate lanes, and were driving with sufficient awareness that no collision occurred, despite lane changes - and I assume by you using the term "drift" people just moved over a lane without indicating?

Some times people don't like others using lanes in such a manner as to get ahead of them - but assuming you weren't aggressively switching lanes and cutting people up - which I've no reason to believe from what you've described, you can just find some people get awfully upset, because: a) you're expected to have clairvoyance in knowing where they want to be b) they have some arbitrary notions on queueing and think you did something that just isn't cricket.

I wouldn't worry about it - not ideal if you have a young person in the car, but there are times when some people are completely unreasonable - althought they think they're perfectly right for doing and behaving as they are.

RegWorts

deedee71 wrote: »

Can I try to explain a road rage incident I was involved in on Saturday and hopefully you guys can let me know if I was in the wrong?

Large roundabout with traffic lights, the left lane is empty on the roundabout and a queue of traffic in the middle lane (about 6 cars). Both left and middle can go straight on.

I enter onto the roundabout to go straight on and am in the left lane. The lights on the roundabout also change to green and the queue of traffic in the middle lane moves forward.

One of the cars in the queue drifts over in front of me, fair enough there was room, but a second car also drifts over and nearly swipes right into the side of me.

Well the driver was incensed! Peeped his horn all the way behind me for 500 yards. By this time I'm at the next junction and am in the right hand lane. He stays in the left, comes to a halt beside me stopping all the traffic behind him and proceeds to continue to peep, shout and gesture. My 10 year old daughter was pale faced and shaken at this monster's behaviour just a few feet from her window.

Did I do something wrong? My light was green, the lights on the roundabout were green. Why did so many cars stay in the middle lane when the left lane was empty?

Any opinions?

This guy has been taught at the Jeremy Clarkson School of Motoring. He brags about never using the left hand lane.

jase1

reeac wrote: »

In the case of double lane exits, yes there is the potential for a collision and any newbie would be advised to keep in a lane further to the right.

Ah the penny drops :rotfl:

jase1

reeac wrote: »

I think maybe that you're saying that drivers should indicate because they are going round a roundabout even when they're not changing lanes. Do you apply the same rules on the open road? e.g. indicate a RH turn when the road bends around to the right?

Just so we're clear -- you do not think that indicating right when taking a lane >2nd exit is appropriate on a roundabout.

You further think that using the left lane in such a scenario is acceptable.

Just so we're clear on the above -- we'll leave others to judge the standard of your driving and attitude.

jase1

NBLondon wrote: »

To summarise, if reeac is a cyclist or a horse-rider, they are correct - para 187 point 5 says

Well not really because that states they should be signalling right, which is apparently a no-no according to our oracle reeac.

CDes

I regularly use the busy 3-lane A650 just south of Bradford which has two small-ish intermediate roundabouts. Both work as left lane for left turn, right lane for right turn and all three lanes for straight on. Almost every day I use lane 3 entering straight onto the outside (right lane) of these roundabouts and exiting straight into lane 3 again.

The first is this, unmarked and all drivers have to be wary if there's a truck on the inside of the roundabout because three vehicles side by side in that case is a recipe for disaster. As the driver on the outside I hug the centre verge of the roundabout as closely as possible and let traffic on the left pass if space is tight, since they are in between two lines of vehicles and are least able to control the situation.

The second is pretty clever since there are three lanes marked on the roundabout for mainline traffic and two for side-road traffic, with unmarked sections for outward spiraling.

I always use lane 3 at these roundabouts because there's always less traffic, less people being less confident of using it I suppose. I've not had cause for concern yet but turning off the roundabouts on the right of two other lanes of traffic can be an unnerving experience.

There's no doubt it would be suicidal for anyone to hug the inside (left) of the roundabout all the way round. That's why it's important for all drivers to learn how to use roundabouts properly.