Roundabout lanes

dannyrst

Hi all,

Interesting question I was thinking about the other day. The general rule of thumb on a roundabout with no other instruction is anything upto and including 12 o clock is left hand lane, anything further right is the right hand lane.

How do you determine what is after 12 o clock? The sign for the roundabout or the actual layout?

We have a roundabout in my town which shows the exit after 12 o clock but the turn off is actually straight ahead and you seem to get a mixture of lane choices. This probably isn't helped because it had two signs (one for major routes, one for local routes) and one shows the exit at 12 o clock (main routes) whereas the other shows it just after 12 o clock.

Retrogamer

If the exit you want to leave on the roundabout is after 12 o'clock on the sign, then you should use the right hand side lane*

If there is no roundabout sign then you should try and visually check if the exit is after 12 o'clock and if so, then stick to the right hand side lane*

*Sometimes road markings & signs will be available to advise which lane to use and they over ride the information above.

Indout96

With sensible head on I agree with Retrogamer
With real head on - it depends how fast your car is :-)

dannyrst

Indout96 wrote: »

With sensible head on I agree with Retrogamer
With real head on - it depends how fast your car is :-)

Over 200bhp, righthand lane

Feral_Moon

What about on 5 junction roundabouts?

Manxman_in_exile

I don't think clock face analogies are very helpful - better to think in terms of first exit, second exit etc.


In the absence of any directional arrows painted on the lanes approaching the roundabout:


lefthand approach lane means first or second exit;


righthand approach lane means second or subsequent exits

EssexExile

It really doesn't matter, if you work out the correct answer the chances are the other drivers haven't. Just be careful & keep your eyes open.

stator

I've always wondered the same thing as you, whether it's the roads, sign or roundabout layout that determines what 'straight on' is.

Car_54

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

I don't think clock face analogies are very helpful - better to think in terms of first exit, second exit etc.


In the absence of any directional arrows painted on the lanes approaching the roundabout:


lefthand approach lane means first or second exit;


righthand approach lane means second or subsequent exits

You seem to be using a different Highway Code from the rest of us.

Feral_Moon

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

I don't think clock face analogies are very helpful - better to think in terms of first exit, second exit etc.


In the absence of any directional arrows painted on the lanes approaching the roundabout:


lefthand approach lane means first or second exit;


righthand approach lane means second or subsequent exits

Ordinarily I'd agree, yet on 5 junction roundabout I frequently use, the traffic exiting at the 3rd junction also uses the left hand lane. If you attempt to use the right hand lane you risk getting sideswiped or end up cutting up the vehicle to your left.

dannyrst

From what I remember being in the highway code, there is no mention of using the sign as the guide to lane choice. The images seem to suggest that you use the physical location of the roundabout. This has a few drawbacks, mainly if you are unfamiliar with the road layout and you cannot see the other side of the roundabout far enough in advance to make a lane choice.

I always assumed you used the signs and that was the reason why some of them showed an exit that was clearly straight on as being slightly past 12 o clock, so people would use the right hand lane to effectively go straight.