Roundabouts

[pipme]

The red and blue 'vehicles' are visible to each other well before the roundabout.
Why does the red 'vehicle' assume that the blue should give way ?
Given that the blue is moving onto the roundabout proper, all four wheels being on there before the red car hits his / her 'give-way' line.

I see near accidents every day, cars in the red 'vehicle' position, above, streaming into roundabout from a 50 mph dual C ... Just not prepared to give way, actually accelerating.

The Highway C wording is a little vague ... but I was always given to understand that I should give way to traffic already on the roundabout and approaching from my right .. not to traffic on my right which has not yet joined the roundabout proper ... This makes total sense, as other road traffic may only become visible when one reaches the giveway line anyway.
Anyone noticed this ???

P

 

[IanDB]

I normally find it's the opposite. That is, I'm already on the roundabout coming from the right of the lane with the red car. Red car coming down dual carriageway (or 38 ton artic) continues to pull out assuming that God will look after them.

The smaller the car you drive the more likely it is to happen. Rarely happens to me while driving a Mondeo, but I feel like a target in my wife's Corsa. Funnily enough, on a push bike you are slightly higher, can look the oncoming driver in the eye and invariably they give way.

I'll probably end up in the local A&E having said that.

 

[big-all]

my intrerpritation the blue car should treat it as a give way
as the rad car has nothing approaching he can keep going

nice diagram by the way


big all

 

[masona]

I was always given to understand that I should give way to traffic already on the roundabout and approaching from my right

Correct.

not to traffic on my right which has not yet joined the roundabout proper

If the car is at the junction on your right of the roundabout, they have right of way.

Also the red car is in the wrong lane to go straight ahead and should be in the middle.

The right hand lane is for turning right when your exit is over the 12 o'clock line but can also go straight across if it's two lane.

 

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

all i know is that you should always give way to traffic that is already on the roundabout unless they are signaling to take the exit off before the one that you are on.unless the tyres are smoking & its a metro 6r4

 

[AdamW]

The highway code says to give way to traffic already on the roundabout, not "give way to the right". Otherwise there would be little advantage to a roundabout over a standard junction between a major road and a minor road.

However, there are many idiots on the road who seem to think the latter, and I am yet to test the legal system by using my right of way in this instance! Most people would rather just wait until they know they can go without the risk.

I have a roundabout on my way home, the exact same shape to the one in the diagram but with a two lane road going onto it where the red car is and single lanes coming off all the exits. If you were the red car, and wanted to leave at the third exit, which lane would you pick?

 

[pipme]

...........a metro 6r4

When the RAC Rally started from Bath, 6r4 team was based at a friend's garage, he was an amature rally driver ... a mech took him out in one of the mean machines ... My friend, as passenger, thought it was quick, until the oil temp hit normal .. then he thought he was in a jet aircraft on rails !! ... Shattering performance was how he described it ..

P

 

[pipme]

my intrerpritation the blue car should treat it as a give way
as the rad car has nothing approaching he can keep going

nice diagram by the way


big all

BA ... I am trying to say that even when blue vehicle is on the roundabout .. all 4 wheels over it's give way line ... red is still driving through his give way line !!
Borrowed the image from the Highway code page Just rubbed the existing motors off !!

 

[masona]

I have a roundabout on my way home, the exact same shape to the one in the diagram but with a two lane road going onto it where the red car is and single lanes coming off all the exits. If you were the red car, and wanted to leave at the third exit, which lane would you pick?

Right hand lane because the third exit is pass the 12 o'clock line opposite direction from you, I think I said that right

 

[AdamW]

From living in a town with literally hundreds of roundabouts, there are other roundabout phenomena I have noticed:

1) On a roundabout that is mostly used to do a 180 degree turn, such as on a dual carriageway where people are forced to join the road in the opposite direction to the one they want, it seems almost 50% of drivers do a 180 on the roundabout WITHOUT INDICATING AT ALL.

2) When you are approaching a crossroads shaped roundabout, with a car coming the other direction, both of you turning to your respective rights, many people will race you to the roundabout, brake late ONTO the roundabout but then go round it VERY slowly. As if you getting there first would have ruined their day.

3) Many cars joining roundabouts where their lane has an obligatory direction, e.g. must turn right, the driver doesn't indicate... as if the cars approaching from other directions know his obligations!

4) There is an increasing number of people who will do a right turn on a roundabout, but will only indicate when they are leaving the roundabout

Now, I know that you should never trust the indicators of other cars, they might be a spacker who has left them on, or they may be malfunctioning. But it is polite and means everyone gets where they are going that little bit quicker, safer and more calmly if we all use them properly.

 

[AdamW]

Right hand lane because the third exit is pass the 12 o'clock line opposite direction from you, I think I said that right

Thankyou! Exactly right. 10 out of 10!

But try explaining that to the occasional morons who will wait in the left hand lane (longer traffic queue, so it isn't because they are trying to cut in), and then aim for that particular exit. There are no markings indicating which lane to use, but that one seems most logical. It only happens once a week, but to be on the safe side I have to burn rubber onto the roundabout to make sure my fat Ass(tra) is ahead and won't get side-swiped.

Sorry Pip, didn't mean to hijack your thread!

 

[masona]

My biggest nightmare is the Sadler Farm roundabout on the A13 where you can turn left or right ! It has 5 mini roundabout on the outside of a big roundabout and of course everybody use the lane correctly

I think there is only two roundabout of this kind and the other one is in Norwich area ????

 

[jasy]

The magic roundabout in Swindon has about 10 mini roundabouts on it, someone correct me if i am wrong...the red and blue car do not stand a chance on this one

 

[AdamW]

As Jasy says, they are called magic roundabouts. Dunno why, from the Grange Hill repeats I have seen "Magic" used to be a word meaning good.

There is also a magic roundabout in Watford, and I have seen one in Luton too (although that was by no means the scariest thing in Luton! 3-dimensional space means nothing to drivers there. Slowing down to pass another car in a narrow gap is seen as a sign of weakness )

 

[masona]

The magic roundabout in Swindon has about 10 mini roundabouts on it, someone correct me if i am wrong

Found it ! Look like 5 roundabout unless you went round twice jasy
I wouldn't know where to start I wondered what it like when it's raining, bet you can't see the white marking on the road, sod it I think I go straight across