Which lane to exit on a roundabout? I
Discussion
Just a quick question. Is it required by law to exit in the same lane that you entered on, on a roundabout?
Four example, if the entrance to the roundabout has two lanes, The left lane which goes left and straight, and the right lane that goes right.. If you are intending to go right and obviously you are in the right lane, do you then have to exit in the right lane or can you exit it in either of the two lanes on the exit of the roundabout?
Four example, if the entrance to the roundabout has two lanes, The left lane which goes left and straight, and the right lane that goes right.. If you are intending to go right and obviously you are in the right lane, do you then have to exit in the right lane or can you exit it in either of the two lanes on the exit of the roundabout?
Changing lanes on a roundabout I think is dangerous and inconsiderate for those waiting to enter the roundabout intending to take the first exit.
They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
Vipers said:
Changing lanes on a roundabout I think is dangerous and inconsiderate for those waiting to enter the roundabout intending to take the first exit.
They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
I was taught to stay in the same lane, so thats what I do. They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
Your scenario describes the topic im currently debating on facebook. Someone is arguing its okay to change lanes. Someone crashed into him because he chahged lanes and somehow it's not his fault..
OceanEyes said:
Vipers said:
Changing lanes on a roundabout I think is dangerous and inconsiderate for those waiting to enter the roundabout intending to take the first exit.
They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
I was taught to stay in the same lane, so thats what I do. They see you in L2 and assume you will stay in L2. This happens daily at a roundabout near me, I dare not enter the roundabout because I know from experience all the buggers coming around in L2 will chop to L1 just before they pass my entrance.
Legally, no idea, crept it shows staying in the lane in the H.C.
Your scenario describes the topic im currently debating on facebook. Someone is arguing its okay to change lanes. Someone crashed into him because he chahged lanes and somehow it's not his fault..
I would rather play safe and stay in the lane until I am off the roundabout.
Vipers said:
Although the HC shows exiting in either lane, I think this is dangerous, unless you are absolutely sure there is no one waiting to enter the roundabout, then again this can be debated till doomsday.
I would rather play safe and stay in the lane until I am off the roundabout.
The HC also makes mention of changing lanes in order to exit, but neglects to coverI would rather play safe and stay in the lane until I am off the roundabout.
Rule 1 - never be alongside anyone on a roundabout.
Rule 2 - assume everyone else is out to kill you
OceanEyes said:
Just a quick question. Is it required by law to exit in the same lane that you entered on, on a roundabout?
No.OceanEyes said:
Four example, if the entrance to the roundabout has two lanes, The left lane which goes left and straight, and the right lane that goes right.. If you are intending to go right and obviously you are in the right lane, do you then have to exit in the right lane or can you exit it in either of the two lanes on the exit of the roundabout?
You can exit in either lane in the sense that there is no explicit prohibition of changing lanes on the roundabout. There's the ever-present careless and inconsiderate driving offences of course, so whatever you do, make sure it's safe and doesn't inconvenience people - but that ought to go without saying.General stuff to think about...
Don't loiter alongside other people on roundabouts
Other people around you will probably expect you to stay in lane, unless the custom on that particular roundabout is to change lanes for some reason...
...which relates to... It's probably worth trying to fit in with what everybody else does even if you think it isn't quite right
If you're in the right lane on the roundabout, exiting into the left lane of the exit road might be unhelpful towards someone looking to join from your left to take the same exit
marshalla said:
Vipers said:
Although the HC shows exiting in either lane, I think this is dangerous, unless you are absolutely sure there is no one waiting to enter the roundabout, then again this can be debated till doomsday.
I would rather play safe and stay in the lane until I am off the roundabout.
The HC also makes mention of changing lanes in order to exit, but neglects to coverI would rather play safe and stay in the lane until I am off the roundabout.
Rule 1 - never be alongside anyone on a roundabout.
Rule 2 - assume everyone else is out to kill you
Another odd thing in the HC, cars entering at 6 and leaving at 12 are shown in L1 only.
In reality, and certainly on Anderson Drive in Aberdeen with numerous roundabouts, two lanes on approach, most are going straight over so use both lanes on, and both lanes off.
If we applied the HC here, Aberdeen would come to a standstill.
I followed a guy the other day on this road, like me, he entered at 6 and left at 12, on every bloody roundabout he entered in L2 with his right indicator on, (meaning he is planning to exit somewhere past 12), and on every roundabout as he passed the 9 exit, he changed to a left indicator.
Luckily no one waiting to enter from exit 9 didn't "assume" this clown wasn't actually going round a bit further, or a bit luck played its part.
Vipers....he would be likely to fail a driving test for that as he would be giving a misleading signal on his approach to the roundabout, compounded by his road position.
unless marked otherwise a rule of thumb is lane 1 for left and straight on
lane 2 on approach for turning right
The arrows on the road are an "order", and the road signs on approach to roundabouts will sometimes advise you of the correct lane to approach the roundabout in.
On modern "spiral" roundabouts the lanes will spiral out from the "inside" track to the outside to help facilitate the exit of the roundabout especially when turning right.
If you take the "inside" lane or "lane 2" to turn right, you will as already mentioned have to cross at some point the "outside" or "lane 1" to exit. the shape, the size, the other traffic, your speed etc... will often dictate how you do this. try chanting to yourself
"mirrors left, signal left, look left, turn left"
Your decision of where and when on each roundabout you have to do this depends on that roundabout, but your Mirrors signal manoeuvre decision has to be correctly timed, necessary and correct to prevent other road users being confused/mislead about what your intention is. If you can not safely exit a roundabout because of other traffic on your nearside, then re apply your offside signal, (if in lane 2) and continue around until you can safely move across to exit (this is often the mid-point of the exit entrance you are passing before your exit (for your msm routine). but, just about every roundabout is different, and even the same roundabout, could be different depending on what other traffic is doing, the weather etc...best bet is to not cause any other road user to change direction or speed during the execution of your manoeuvre ...simples....
unless marked otherwise a rule of thumb is lane 1 for left and straight on
lane 2 on approach for turning right
The arrows on the road are an "order", and the road signs on approach to roundabouts will sometimes advise you of the correct lane to approach the roundabout in.
On modern "spiral" roundabouts the lanes will spiral out from the "inside" track to the outside to help facilitate the exit of the roundabout especially when turning right.
If you take the "inside" lane or "lane 2" to turn right, you will as already mentioned have to cross at some point the "outside" or "lane 1" to exit. the shape, the size, the other traffic, your speed etc... will often dictate how you do this. try chanting to yourself
"mirrors left, signal left, look left, turn left"
Your decision of where and when on each roundabout you have to do this depends on that roundabout, but your Mirrors signal manoeuvre decision has to be correctly timed, necessary and correct to prevent other road users being confused/mislead about what your intention is. If you can not safely exit a roundabout because of other traffic on your nearside, then re apply your offside signal, (if in lane 2) and continue around until you can safely move across to exit (this is often the mid-point of the exit entrance you are passing before your exit (for your msm routine). but, just about every roundabout is different, and even the same roundabout, could be different depending on what other traffic is doing, the weather etc...best bet is to not cause any other road user to change direction or speed during the execution of your manoeuvre ...simples....
watchnut said:
unless marked otherwise a rule of thumb is lane 1 for left and straight on
lane 2 on approach for turning right.
Agree on all your comments, the bit above is a bit ambiguous. A roundabout with four exits, two lanes on each entry/exit road, and two,lanes on the roundabout, and no road markings, if going straight on, use either lane.lane 2 on approach for turning right.
If you read the HC, it is clear what lane for turning left, for turning right and going all the way around, it says something like for any other exit use an appropriate lane, which I read to be either lane.
As I said earlier, if we didn't use two lanes, Aberdeen would come to a grinding halt. So I disagree with the drawing in the HC on roundabouts to be honest, what's your take on this?
Unless there are clear markings ahead of time to say there are 2 lanes on entry for the exit and 2 exits you can exit in either. ie 2 lanes in for that exit, 2 lanes out, stay in the same lane relative. If there was only 1 lane out then what would you do? You'd have to use it and manage the traffic around you. 1 lane in, you have a choice on exit.
Another scenario to illustrate why - an articulated lorry is turning right, has to approach in the right hand lane, turns right - would you expect it to exit in lane 2 allowing for traffic to join in L1 from other roads, and then have to try and move across? Makes no sense. You get the same with slower drivers ending up in L2, causing a traffic to back up, and having trouble getting out the way.
Where the road designers want you to use L2 so say traffic from a different entry point can filter in at the same time, they tend to put a solid white line in creating a dedicated filter lane. Plenty of examples of this around.
That's not to say you can't use lane 2, and there are occasions when it makes sense but that's because you want to be in Lane 2 due to the traffic ahead. That's my opinion and how I see most other drivers do it, and in general it works.
Another scenario to illustrate why - an articulated lorry is turning right, has to approach in the right hand lane, turns right - would you expect it to exit in lane 2 allowing for traffic to join in L1 from other roads, and then have to try and move across? Makes no sense. You get the same with slower drivers ending up in L2, causing a traffic to back up, and having trouble getting out the way.
Where the road designers want you to use L2 so say traffic from a different entry point can filter in at the same time, they tend to put a solid white line in creating a dedicated filter lane. Plenty of examples of this around.
That's not to say you can't use lane 2, and there are occasions when it makes sense but that's because you want to be in Lane 2 due to the traffic ahead. That's my opinion and how I see most other drivers do it, and in general it works.
Surely it's up to the driver joining the rbout to give priority to traffic already on the rbout regardless of their position relative to them? I had someone go straight on in L1 at the the same time as I was coming off from going right. She ended up in my blind spot. Whilst I didn't immediately exit into L1, I started to move into L1 and had to cancel and remain in L2 because she was hanging in my left hand blind spot (luckily, I do a quick shoulder check as I change lanes). I imagine a driver not as thorough as me might have crashed into them or worse went straight into L1 whilst existing, causing a more severe collision. I imagine the blame would lie with the driver who wanted to go straight on as they didn't give way correctly.
If you don't want to be driven into then don't put yourself into dangerous situations where a driver might not see you. It's the same as driving next to a lorry in L1 in L2 when they are coming up to something in L1. You know what they are potentially about to do, so remove yourself from the situation.
If you don't want to be driven into then don't put yourself into dangerous situations where a driver might not see you. It's the same as driving next to a lorry in L1 in L2 when they are coming up to something in L1. You know what they are potentially about to do, so remove yourself from the situation.
Edited by Swanny87 on Monday 6th October 17:01
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