Near my works is a roundabout with two exits - one at 3 o'clock and one at 9. My works is at 3 o'clock, and like any normal person, I approach the roundabout in the right-hand lane, go round the inside, and move to the outside around 12 o'clock to leave at 3. Recently, though, myself and some of my colleagues have had to take evasive action from people using the left lane and going round the outside to come off at the same exit as us. It' s not like there's a queue to jump by using the 'wrong' lane, so I'm at a bit of a loss to understand why so many people do it. All I can think of is that most people are taught roundabouts in a 9, 12, 3 format, where the left lane is for the first and second exit, and the right lane is for the third exit. This - rather worryingly - means that there must be an awful lot of people out there who take their driving lessons as Gospel, and don't exercise any commonsense whatsoever... :(

Buffalo Girls :confused:

Have you moved to the Trafford Centre because that is classic TC behaviour at the Asda and (now called) Barton Square roundabout.

Being in the (correct) right hand lane (of 3) of the approach trying to take the 3 o'clock exit whilst the 2 cars in the left and centre lanes try to so the same :eek: is an interesting experience. Especially as the exit is a wide but single width marked road.

I don't agree with your prognonsis though, I got taught (recently compared to some on here) left for left and straight, right for right. No numbers of exits ideas.

Your theory is correct, unless the lanes are marked on approach the 9/12/3 theory applies.

Buffalo Girls :confused:

'Buffalo girls go round the outside, round the outside, round the outside' (or 'trailerpark girls', if you're a fan of Eminem) - it's a song! :P

Have you moved to the Trafford Centre because that is classic TC behaviour

No, but I know just what you mean!

Roundabout near me has exits at 7 O'clock, 10 O'clock and 1 O'clock

You need eyes up your ar$e on this one because the road arrows show left lane for left and straight on and right lane for right! But as you see - the "right" is just about straight on...

Its because people are kn*bs and too lazy to queque properly have no manners are a pain in the **** - oh and did I mention they are knobs. Pet hate of mine. I always try to tree them, as in shove up a tree, as I exit correctly.

There is a roundabout near where I work that has lane markings and people still get it wrong. I've lost count of how many times I've nearly got broadsided coming off the roundabout and staying in my lane as another car tries to move into my lane.

I come off the eastbound side of the m4 at jct 45 every morning for work, its a big roundabout with 6 exits, both the lanes on the slip road are signposted to go right into Swansea (4th exit). Yet everyone queues in the right hand lane then promptly cuts across into the left of the two Swansea lanes on the roundabout, cutting you up in the process, yet they normally beep at you.

They do this even though there is several signs showing both lanes go to Swansea and there are dotted lines on the road showing that the lanes stay in their configuration going onto the roundabout. Grrrrrr anyway off my chest now.

Commendable!

YouTube - malcolm mclaren - buffalo gals

Watched a lorry today leave the M18 to join the A1. Followed him in left hand lane down long long slip road to roundabout. Waited behind him for gap to join roundabout (assuming like me he was turning left). So what does he do? Set off from left hand lane, onto roundabout, into outside lane then starts indicating right! Why why why didn't he move into the right hand lane on the slip road?

Then sat in a queue on A14 for almost an hour due to broken down lorry, with matrix sign saying "delay 10 minutes".

Rant over, thanks guys

this happens on the A43 for the junction with M40 where people cant be bothered to queue in the right lane for the M40. personally its quicker to go across that roundabout and the one after and join it at the services.

this happens on the A43 for the junction with M40 where people cant be bothered to queue in the right lane for the M40. personally its quicker to go across that roundabout and the one after and join it at the services.

the roundabout onto the A34 near the Abingdon road is a nightmare for people not filtering across. Rose Hill roundabout is also good for a bit of evasive driving because some people seem incapable of going around it...coming from Cowley they sit in the left lane at the lights, but drive straight onto the roundabout and half into the middle lane, exiting into the left lane of the DC towards Heyford Hill.

Buffalo Girls :confused:

Have you moved to the Trafford Centre because that is classic TC behaviour at the Asda and (now called) Barton Square roundabout.

Being in the (correct) right hand lane (of 3) of the approach trying to take the 3 o'clock exit whilst the 2 cars in the left and centre lanes try to so the same :eek: is an interesting experience. Especially as the exit is a wide but single width marked road.

I don't agree with your prognonsis though, I got taught (recently compared to some on here) left for left and straight, right for right. No numbers of exits ideas.

It depends on the design, but my pet hate is people not reading road signs!.. ie the roundabouts underneath the manc way are all left lane = left right lane = straight over and right... i take great pleasure in blocking anyone in the left lane who tries to go straight on..

Jct 9 of the m60 is another classic example.. if your coming off the motorway from the south, you need to be in the left hand lane to go right.. although that is no longer a roundabout, its classed as a signal controlled junction as its got 4 lanes.. (i should know, i designed most of it) but the number of people who just dont read signs really annoys me! (i designed those too... and they change depending on how busy it is )

ie the roundabouts underneath the manc way are all left lane = left right lane = straight over and right...

ffs manc way needs a book on its own from the roundabouts to the criminally short slip roads and lane changing spaces.

The roundabouts are ballache for me every day. On the way to work I take a 1.5 mile detour as a short cut rather than queue for ages to get onto the deansgate roundabout.

ffs manc way needs a book on its own from the roundabouts to the criminally short slip roads and lane changing spaces.

The roundabouts are ballache for me every day. On the way to work I take a 1.5 mile detour as a short cut rather than queue for ages to get onto the deansgate roundabout.

You should try negotiating the feckin' thing in an Army box-body Bedford - now that's an experience! :eek:

Edited 13 November, 200817 yr by ap0gee

Because of traffic problems in the town where I live, all the roundabouts with dual carriageway approaches now have signs that say use both lanes to turn right. They are only signed, no road marking are present. So left lane becomes turn left, straight on or turn right. I allways use the left lane exiting the A1 to go into stevenage (3 o'clock) as do lots of other motorists.

SWMBO does that on roundabouts.

Refuses to accept that it's better,safer etc to stay to the right.

Not sure what the Highway code states, had a look but didn't find anything, but the French highway code is quite categorical that when changing lane on the roundabout you must give way to the traffic in the other lane (which is common sense), and using the inner most lane for 3 exit is a "recomended route" - when no road markings.

So although it is irritating and illogical to stay in the outside lane, it is (in France at least - and I suspect in the UK) perfectly legal and they do have right of way (again assuming no road markings)...

SWMBO reckons that her driving instructor always taught her that the left lane was 1st exit only (unless signed), which kind of makes sense.

I Always thought that left lane was anything up to 12 O'Clock, right lane (of 2) for 12-5 O'Clock, but that it depends on local conditions, number of lanes etc...

My issues are with roundabouts with the same number of lanes as exits (ie: 2 lanes, 2 exits), where its clearly left for left, and right for straight on/right. Local rules seem to apply to these, where the locals ALWAYS do the wrong thing, changing lanes actually on the roundabout, usually cutting someone up, and any visiting driver has to be VERY wary.

I usually try to follow the locals and do it wrong, just to try to avoid being hooted/having an accident.

Confine the discussion to roundabouts with only 1 or 2 entry and exit lanes at any point, and to entries with 2 lanes.

I was taught that the LH lane was for the first and second exits only, you could use the RH lane for the second exit if and only if it had 2 exits, and you used the RH lane for the 3rd and any subsequent exits.

Of course the HC now seems to say otherwise. And any of these general rules may be over-ridden by signage and road markings.

When It's a DC on the entrance and on the exit at 3 oclock turning right, I tend to stick to the right hand side and use the right hand exit lane. Whilst I agree that you should be able to move from RH lane to LH lane as you go from 12 oclock to 3, you are changing lanes and you have no guarantee that someone isn't in the LH lane when you exit.

Take the case where as you approach from 6, you get in RH lane. You enter roundabout, as you go past 9, someone enters from 9 to leave at 3 (straight ahead for them). They approach from 9 in the LH lane, go round the roundabout in the LH lane and exit in the LH lane. Should you have the right to push them off the road? Should they wait until you're past 9 before entering even though the LH / outside lane of the roundabout is free for traffic?

With the amount of traffic on our roads, it seems silly to restrict a roundabout to a single carriage affair when all approaching and exiting roads are dual carriageway

Discuss

It comes down to a right-of-way issue, I suppose, and presumably if you're giving way to traffic approaching from the right (everywhere except France, anyway! :P ) then the car going from 9 to 3 should give way to you at all times since you were already on the roundabout...???

:ne_nau:

There's one near where my parents come from that, for years and years was effectively a T junction (it's now a 4-way where a bypass was added), with 2-lane entries and single lane exits along the '-' stroke and a dual carriageway on the '|' one. By local convention everyone took the LH entry lane for their first exit and the RH entry lane otherwise. The only potential problems were:-

1) if traffic heading L-R didn't "zip" properly with stuff turning right off the DC.

2) if a non-local tried to ignore the convention when going R-L or heading L-R and making the right onto the dual.

It comes down to a right-of-way issue, I suppose, and presumably if you're giving way to traffic approaching from the right (everywhere except France, anyway! :P ) then the car going from 9 to 3 should give way to you at all times since you were already on the roundabout...???

:ne_nau:

Unless they can match rotational velocity whilst ahead of you.

Oh and there are "give way to joining traffic" roundabouts in NL too. I was once stuck in a 6-vehicle traffic jam on one of those (timing issue, plus a small island and one of the 6 being a bus). Literally, because of when and where they arrived, everyone had to give way to someone else, except one guy who was blocked from moving by the bus!!

you should all come over here to Dublin and see what happends at roundabouts!!!:eek: oh lordy!!!....the first ring of the roundabout is just an extention of the approach road!!!....when you are driving around one here you more often than not blocked by a stopped car in the road!!!......theres even a roundabout called the redcow.....always called the madcow roundabout!!!

k:)