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There is a roundabout near the Winchester M3 junction, where 3 lanes enter the roundabout. Lane 1 is turn left. Lanes 2 and 3 are go round the 2 lane roundabout. Exits all have two lanes. I am starting to lose count of the number of times I would have been side swiped had I gone round in lane 3 with a vehicle in lane 2. You just know they will enter in lane 2, drive across lane 3, and then back to lane 2 on exit. And they do. A white van did it. A pink Fiat 500 did it. So I always hang back. Is it really too much to ask to expect people to follow lanes and not do their best to side swipe cars? And I do wonder why accidents are not commonplace, or perhaps everyone does like me i.e. they are not prepared to trust other cars, so they hang back.
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>> they are not prepared to trust other cars, so they hang back.
Well yes Leif. Just saying much the same in another thread earlier.
A high percentage of drivers is threateningly incompetent. So everyone hangs back cautiously out of self-preservation.
So the traffic in general is slow, bumbling, inelegant and after a while, deeply irritating.
Tell me about it why don't you?
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yep. plenty here in Stevenage and yes i see lots of drivers not staying in lanes.
the worst ones are the drivers that do not use indicators and are in the left hand lane but are in fact turning right.
some days my telepathy is not working so i cant read other drivers intentions.
oh well live to see another day.
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>> the worst ones are the drivers that do not use indicators and are in the
>> left hand lane but are in fact turning right.
I'd forgotten about those. People here are quite good, so I do not see that too often. And the worst form of the above is where they enter the roundabout in front of you, in lane 1, but carry on round when you are exiting.
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>> >> the worst ones are the drivers that do not use indicators and are in
>> the
>> >> left hand lane but are in fact turning right.
I'd be past the roundabout before it had registered with most other drivers that I'd indicated, so I don't bother indicating at all.
:-)
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 29 May 12 at 10:22
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>> Tell me about it why don't you?
>>
He already has done.
:-)
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At quiet times in my area roundabouts are often deserted and I "straight line" them if it is safe and I have good lines of sight. It amuses me to see people trundling around the painted lanes of an empty roundabout.
EDIT - These are roundabouts where you can see the whole roundabout and all of its entrances.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 29 May 12 at 09:04
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>> At quiet times in my area roundabouts are often deserted and I "straight line" them
Was this you then ON?
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2154078
:)
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:-)))))))))
Not quite that straight!
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Plenty like that in Milton Keynes. Those doing it properly plan their line through roundabout A in order to arrive correctly positioned for roundabout B.
Then there's the one at M1/J21 going north. Two lanes on the slip road and clear signage to use both if going right towards Leicester. Three lanes on the roundabout. Quite obvious that outermost serves the eastbound only M69 while the inner pair are for Leicester bound traffic. Go from nearside on slip to middle on roandabout (as you should to roll off the roundabout positioned to take the slip for the Outer Ring Road) and nine times in ten you're nearly side swiped by the buffoon who has gone from slip road offside to roandabout middle.
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>> Then there's the one at M1/J21 going north. Two lanes on the slip road and clear signage to use both
I use that one most days in a 7.5 tonner. The lane 3-to-2 drifters tend to swiftly correct themselves back to lane 3 when they see me alongside them :)
I noticed when I moved to the Midlands 5 years ago that they do like to mark their roundabout lanes in a non-intuitive way around here. Many islands* have spiral lanes marked out so that traffic for the straight-ahead enters from lane 2 and moves to lane 1 just before its exit.
It's quite clear to see where the majority of drivers actually go by observing the tracks when it snows.
*I'm picking up the accent, they don't call 'em roundabouts here.
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>>they do like to mark their roundabout lanes in a non-intuitive way around here.
Yes, they've recently ruined the roundabout off the A50 for Shardlow / Sawley / Castle Donnington - both spiral lines and traffic lights fitted. Previously, it was unusual to need to stop on approach, where now it's inevitable. More often than not, you now stop and watch nothing cross before the lights change. Growl growl whinge whinge.....
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>> I noticed when I moved to the Midlands 5 years ago that they do like
>> to mark their roundabout lanes in a non-intuitive way around here. Many islands* have spiral
>> lanes marked out so that traffic for the straight-ahead enters from lane 2 and moves
>> to lane 1 just before its exit.
That's the Milton Keynes style too - works well provided people understand.
Your mention of 'islands' got me thinking of my lovely female housemate c1980, Chris. She was from Wigan, called buses buzzes and had her own name for roundabouts too. Trouble is I can't remember what her word was....
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>>Was this you then ON?
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2154078
I think there's something not quite right about that. No tyre tracks or impact damage on the kerb.
Fake?
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>> No tyre tracks or impact damage
>> on the kerb.
There's a black tyre mark on the kerb at start of the single track on the grass. Probably a motorcycle.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 29 May 12 at 10:38
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>> At quiet times in my area roundabouts are often deserted and I "straight line" them
>> if it is safe and I have good lines of sight. It amuses me to
>> see people trundling around the painted lanes of an empty roundabout.
>>
I did an (excellent) advanced driving course mandated by a previous employer for their fleet insurance, and was told this was perfectly acceptable, given the line of sight / other traffic conditions you state.
Similarly, indicating when there is nobody to see it is also pointless.
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>> Similarly, indicating when there is nobody to see it is also pointless.
That's my view. But some people say it's not up to you to decide if there is nobody to see it.
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>> >> Similarly, indicating when there is nobody to see it is also pointless.
>>
>> That's my view. But some people say it's not up to you to decide if
>> there is nobody to see it.
Such advice probably made sense when it first saw light on less crowded roads 40 to 50 years ago. In this day and age it's rare to be absolutley certain there's not a vehicle or a pedestrian who might be unseen and benefit from your signal.
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>> I did an (excellent) advanced driving course>>
Our instructors obviously had similar training. :-)
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>> I did an (excellent) advanced driving course mandated by a previous employer for their fleet
>> insurance, and was told this was perfectly acceptable, given the line of sight / other
>> traffic conditions you state.
I thought that was an automatic 3 points if caught?
>> Similarly, indicating when there is nobody to see it is also pointless.
Yes, I had an argument with a colleague who insisted on telling me you should always indicate just in case you did not see someone. My view is that if you did not see someone, you are not sufficiently aware of your surroundings. That said, I do indicate at night even when I see no other road users about just in case there is an unlit numpty or three.
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I know how to use a roundabout. I take the shortest and the quickest route around, and let the Devil take the hindmost.
:-)
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My all time top "brown trousers" moment was on the Oxford ring.
Four lanes going into a roundabout, two roads of two lanes each exiting making a "Y" pattern. Clear markings indicate that left two lanes go, erm, left and the outside two go on to the next exit. I'm going lane #2 to the outside lane of the first exit. Simple, yes?
As I follow the lane markings to my exit, I notice the car on the inside getting uncomfortably close. That'll be some dozy cow going lane #1 (!!) to the 2nd exit and paying no attention whatsoever to the vehicles around her while doing so. I swear and swing the wheel right hard, cutting across two lanes as she follows suit in her bubble of idiocy to the inside of me.
One full circuit later and I'm back where I want to be, still swearing. I like to think that one day she did that with an articulated truck on the outside and put herself out of our misery.....
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Some people think they are safest if the crawl round the whole roundabout in the outermost lane.
There also seem to be people who think you should indicate right when joining a roundabout, even if turning left at the first exit.
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>> Some people think they are safest if the crawl round the whole roundabout in the
>> outermost lane.
I think I'm safest if I'm going as fast as possible with tyres screaming to warn others to keep out of my way.
:-)
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>> I think I'm safest if I'm going as fast as possible with tyres screaming to
>> warn others to keep out of my way.
>> :-)
Driving a mk1 Focus, you are frankly wasting its talents if you aren't taking all roundabouts with a whiff of lift off oversteer. ;-)
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>Driving a mk1 Focus, you are frankly wasting its talents if you aren't taking
>all roundabouts with a whiff of lift off oversteer. ;-)
You like Focus oversteer?
This one in a local dealer should be easy enough to provoke.
tinyurl.com/chtqvzh
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>>
>> There also seem to be people who think you should indicate right when joining a
>> roundabout, even if turning left at the first exit.
>>
Never heard that one before, who would think that!?
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Never heard that one before, who would think that?
Not sure I've ever seen it done for left but plenty signal right at big roundabouts before going straight on. I imagine they think that by signalling right they're indicating 'I'm not leaving at this exit', and are oblivious to the alarm it causes to those behind them in the inner lane. Seems more prevalent among older drivers, probably the same ones who change down through the gears on the way up a motorway sliproad.
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>>
>> >>
>> >> There also seem to be people who think you should indicate right when joining
>> a
>> >> roundabout, even if turning left at the first exit.
>> >>
>>
>> Never heard that one before, who would think that!?
>>
I suppose because they don't see the bigger picture, but just imagine they are moving out filtering into a stream of traffic.
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>> The 'official' way:
>> www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338
Only when you're taking your driving test!
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>> >> The 'official' way:
>> >> www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338
>>
>> Only when you're taking your driving test!
Yes, once you are an advanced driver you do not need to bother with beginners tosh such as signals, and lanes.
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or a Bimmer driver Leif !
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Signalling: with any kind of normal four-way roundabout you signal right if turning right, left if turning left and not at all if going straight across. With very large and/or complex roundabouts a fussier approach to signalling may be necessary. It's all quite logical.
However I know at least one roundabout which is four-way but very skewed, so that left is more or less straight ahead, straight on is a 90 degree turn to the right and a right turn means almost doubling back. To me it's still a simple four-way roundabout, but a hell of a lot of people signal right when they are going straight on, because they have to turn right to do it.
Ah, bless.
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I've always thought that if I signal and maintain the correct lane discipline in the majority of driving or riding, I won't be caught out by the unexpected. Bear in mind it isn't only other motor vehicles you need to make aware of your intentions but pedestrians and other users of the roads.
Driving defensively and making your intentions clear makes more sense.
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>> Signalling: with any kind of normal four-way roundabout you signal right if turning right, left
>> if turning left and not at all if going straight across. With very large and/or
>> complex roundabouts a fussier approach to signalling may be necessary. It's all quite logical.
But not if you use the magic roundabout in Hemel Hempstead. Does my head in that one, and I am not stupid.
>> However I know at least one roundabout which is four-way but very skewed, so that
>> left is more or less straight ahead, straight on is a 90 degree turn to
>> the right and a right turn means almost doubling back. To me it's still a
>> simple four-way roundabout, but a hell of a lot of people signal right when they
>> are going straight on, because they have to turn right to do it.
There's an odd one to the East of Winchester where you can be in lane 1 or 2 to turn right. I think the idea is that turning right is continuing on the same dual carriageway, and not turning off. Sounds like what you are talking about though.
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>>the magic roundabout anywhere<<
In an artic the back of the trailer is about two roundabouts behind the front of the cab, so makes for difficult 'correct' road positioning!
Pat
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>> or a Bimmer driver Leif !
Yes, but not that many of those round these parts, oddly enough. Loads of Golf's, Fiestas, Toyota Yaris/Aygo, Polo, Audis and so on. They must be camouflaged or something.
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A roundabout, an exit of which I used to cross on a bicycle (on cycle path). Let's say this exit is at 9 o'clock.
Not a very large roundabout, but with grass and a tree in the middle - the middle being about six cars' lengths in diameter. Cars would come in at 12 o'clock and go 270 degrees around the roundabout and in order to show their intention they would indicate right.
By the time they reach my exit - where I was waiting to cross - they would *still* be indicating right as they turned left. Was that really so difficult to change?
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>> I am starting to lose count of the number
>> of times I would have been side swiped had I gone round in lane 3
>> with a vehicle in lane 2. You just know they will enter in lane 2,
>> drive across lane 3, and then back to lane 2 on exit. And they do.
>>
The trick is to get ahead of the vehicle in the other lane so they can see you. If you can't get ahead then give way.
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>> The trick is to get ahead of the vehicle in the other lane so they
>> can see you. If you can't get ahead then give way.
You would think that being alongside at the entrance to the roundabout would be enough.
Apparently roundabouts are a known accident hot spot. What a surprise.
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Does anyone know how to use a roundabout? - Armel Coussine
