Is right hand lane for right turn only?

Strider590

InsideInsurance wrote: »

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I swear that half the people who want the last exit/ the supermarket go in lane one and without indicating go round the roundabout nearly taking out those in lane 2 wanting to go into lane 2 of the first exit. When I first moved here 3 years ago it rarely happened.

Sounds like they don't want to be the one using the "pushing in" lane.

almillar

Two approaching the roundabout, one wide lane leaving the roundabout. The lane that exits the roundabout has a arrow saying outer lane traffic merge towards left.

You've answered your own question. This roundabout seems to have been designed to bring vehicles into conflict just when they don't need to be, when leaving a roundabout. Sounds like a bad design. Would like to see it on Google Maps if you could provide a link.

Anyway, general rules.
If you're approaching a roundabout you don't know, with 2 lanes and no markings: drive in the left hand lane to go left or straight on, drive in the right hand lane to go right.
If you know the roundabout, and you know that straight on has 2 lanes, use the outside lane if you want to make progress - watch out for people cutting lanes!
If the roundabout has markings you follow them, regardless of the general rules.

Gloomendoom

molerat wrote: »

186

Signals and position
When taking the first exit to the left, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
signal left and approach in the left-hand lane
keep to the left on the roundabout and continue signalling left to leave.
When taking an exit to the right or going full circle, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
signal right and approach in the right-hand lane
keep to the right on the roundabout until you need to change lanes to exit the roundabout
signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want.
When taking any intermediate exit, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
select the appropriate lane on approach to and on the roundabout
you should not normally need to signal on approach
stay in this lane until you need to alter course to exit the roundabout
signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want.
When there are more than three lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, use the most appropriate lane on approach and through it.

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I wish more people would actually do this.

sh0597

Use the left lane unless it's got 2 lanes exiting in which case use either.

Lancastrian

Here we go again.
That peculiar British item - the roundabout.
Designed by professional road engineers with a new pad and a set of crayons. No driving experience required but a strict adhereance to whitehall dictat (who all travel to work on the tube). Cars are for the Sunday juant. Go home at 4.30 to miss the rush and never see the mayhem. A good example of "we take our job very seriously" as quoted when something is obviously wrong.
Here in York the first roundabout appeared in the mid eighties and the chaos was unbelievable. The norm is still to always drive right round the outside no matter which exit is required. Good enough to pass the test.

Whilst I'm on a gripe - has anybody noticed how drivers stop 4 meters behind a stop line at junctions or trafic lights. It seems that with a high-bonnet car the drivers (mostly ladies) stop as soon as the line disapears from view. Sometimes this does not trigger the light change sequence but "we are a safe driver - that's official"

I'm off before the incomings land.

matttye

When I hadn't been driving that long I decided to brave a trip into London for the first time and ended up going on Hanger Lane Gyratory without realising I was heading that way. By the time I did realise it was too late to go any other way. I was bricking it on the approach given my lack of driving experience and that fact I had recently read it was the most terrifying junction in England. But even that was easy to deal with.

So long as people use the correct lanes roundabouts work as they should.

For a two lane roundabout just stick to left lane for left or a turn off at any point up to half way around the roundabout, and right lane for anything past half way round.

For a > 2 lane roundabout start to move over into the outer lanes when you pass each exit, so if you're in lane 3 (as lane 3 is labelled with the road you need to exit on) and you want exit 3, for example, after exit 1 move into lane 2, then after exit 2 move into lane 1, then exit at exit 3.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Some junction problems seem to be because drivers treat them as competitive rather than cooperative.

Junction designers often encourage the main routes of traffic into two lanes across a junction as that is the bit where they need to maximise flow, whether that is traffic lights or roundabouts.

If you are presented with two lanes unmarked, you can pretty much rely on the there being two exit lanes on the other side of the roundabout, whether they continue or there is a merge. If a dual carriageway ends across a roundabout, there will normally be a road narrows sign.

So going straight on across and merging on the other side is to be encouraged as it is helping traffic flow. If people merge in turn at the other side, then everything should be fair, but often people start imagining that other people are cheating or racing or generally being unfair and so don't behave very sensibly.

At a queue, the sensible thing to do is deliberately split off into the other lane in turn, else you will end up with a several car queue until it is just silly and the next person along gets a free ride to the front - not because they are pushing in, but because the previous arrivals haven't sensibly organised themselves to get themselves across the junction in the most efficient manner.