Nearly got taken out today after a roundabout.

Joe_Horner

andygb wrote: »

!!!!!! is wrong with these people?
Why have they no lane discipline and why do they not realise when THEY have made a mistake?

As others have said, because they're poor drivers. Or possibly because they were unsure where they were going (and handled it badly)

Having said that, the clues were there in advance - approaching the roundabout slowly in the outside lane, stopping for no-one rather than proceeding through the roundabout, and being two women in a people carrier (sorry, Lum, just wanted to get to 3 clues )

So, in the spirit of certain other threads, you could have avoided their bad driving by spotting those clues and either hanging back slightly to see what they did or, once alongside, making sure you got well ahead as you entered the roundabout seeing as it was clear.

That's not suggesting you were even slightly in the wrong btw, only that it sounds like you might have been able to compensate for their mistakes and avoid it developing as it did. When your car's written off and you're sitting in A&E, "right" and "wrong" become a little irrelevant compared to "avoided" and "didn't avoid"

nickcc

Driving south on the A30 approaching roundabout where left hand lane is signed for Truro and right hand lane A30 South. Plonk in 4x4 decides to change lanes on the roundabout when he's alongside me and nearly takes my front end off, I was in the left hand lane taking the Truro exit whilst he'd been in the right hand lane heading south on the A30. Strangely enough, by his hand signals, he was under the impression that I was in the incorrect lane.

Joe_Horner

nickcc wrote: »

Driving south on the A30 approaching roundabout where left hand lane is signed for Truro and right hand lane A30 South. Plonk in 4x4 decides to change lanes on the roundabout when he's alongside me and nearly takes my front end off, I was in the left hand lane taking the Truro exit whilst he'd been in the right hand lane heading south on the A30. Strangely enough, by his hand signals, he was under the impression that I was in the incorrect lane.

Ahh, but you've just said (well, typed) soething that can be understood by outsiders, see? He probably mistook you for an emmet :beer:

Tilt

Can't be many round-a-bouts that have 2 lanes on the approach and only one on the exit(s) with no directional arrows. Depending on the geographical layout of exits, lane 1 would normally be for leaving at the first exit and lane 2 for straight ahead and turning right.

Then of course there are the multi-lane, motorway type round-a-bouts which to the less experienced/competent driver, are a real challenge. The one on the M40/A34 (junction 9) interchange is one that springs to mind!

Lum

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Having said that, the clues were there in advance - approaching the roundabout slowly in the outside lane, stopping for no-one rather than proceeding through the roundabout, and being two women in a people carrier (sorry, Lum, just wanted to get to 3 clues )

Well if you see two women in an obscure Japanese import that looks like a crappy old minicab and who are in the wrong lane for going straight on, chances are it's me and my GF and I'm fed up of being stuck behind you.

I exaggerate of course, but you really do need to be wary of using stereotypes to judge how people are going to drive. Yes it can be a handy guide as to what a vehicle might do and what it's capabilities might be, but they always have the chance to surprise you so you still need to watch out.

Joe_Horner

Totally agree

I've known a lot of slightly hesitant* women drivers but very few discourteous or dangerous ones. On the other hand, I've known a lot of men who I wouldn't get in a car with unless someoone first read me the Last Rites just in case!


* by my thinking that is - they would have said "careful"

Norman_Castle

Lum wrote: »

The one local to me I correctly use the left lane to go straight ahead (it's two lanes in, one lane out at every exit)
.

Are the entrances marked as two lanes or just wide and treated as two?.

notanewuser

Tilt wrote: »

Can't be many round-a-bouts that have 2 lanes on the approach and only one on the exit(s) with no directional arrows. Depending on the geographical layout of exits, lane 1 would normally be for leaving at the first exit and lane 2 for straight ahead and turning right.

LOADS around here.

Left lane is usually somebody stopping for a completely empty roundabout, so I go right lane, drop a gear and zoom past and off before they've even selected 1st gear.

facade

We have 3 lane approaches to roundabouts only 2 lanes wide round here.
The left lane is to turn left (reasonably enough) but it is impossibleto fit 3 cars on the island (the one turning left has to go around to the first exit).

Most straight-onners drive down the centre of lanes 2&3 to stop someone squashing them, makes the 3 lane approach rather pointless........

Jamie_Carter

smashingyour... wrote: »

Really?




Would that be a short or long horn warning?

It's still making them aware of their presence. You don't have any evidence to say otherwise.