Near-miss. My fault I think.
Discussion
Greetings. Had a very close shave the other day that needed quite a sharp reaction on my part. Happened here: https://goo.gl/maps/HKMAU
Was headed east, i.e. leaving the A283 to join the A24 north. Happened like this:
1. A283 splits into two lanes. Line of very slow traffic in the left hand lane, right hand lane clear.
2. Good-oh, move to the right hand lane, overtake traffic, still planning on turning left at the roundabout (1st exit), joining the A24 in the outside lane.
3. Onto the roundabout, left-hand indication on my part.
4. Just as I'm about to turn left onto the A24 my windscreen is suddenly full of someone's hatchback. The hatchback approached the roundabout in the left hand lane and planned on going straight over, putting us on the same bit of road at the same time. He actually undertook me on the roundabout, although in retrospect this was a good thing as if he'd been in my blindspot I think the chances of hitting him would have been higher.
5. Avoiding action from me, sheepish full lap of the roundabout, on to the A24. No harm done.
There are no direction lines on the road when you approach the roundabout, and my assumption (I know, I know) was that traffic using the left hand lane would be turning left, and traffic doing anything else would use the right hand lane to either go straight over or turn right. Obviously at least in this case I was wrong. I was very pleased not to have hit anything as for a moment it looked exceedingly likely.
I think the near miss was my fault, which is probably for the best as it's a handy cautionary tale the next time I fancy playing russian roulette with lanes on a roundabout. Interested to know what others make of it, advanced-driving stylee, though, how you would have approached it etc etc.
Was headed east, i.e. leaving the A283 to join the A24 north. Happened like this:
1. A283 splits into two lanes. Line of very slow traffic in the left hand lane, right hand lane clear.
2. Good-oh, move to the right hand lane, overtake traffic, still planning on turning left at the roundabout (1st exit), joining the A24 in the outside lane.
3. Onto the roundabout, left-hand indication on my part.
4. Just as I'm about to turn left onto the A24 my windscreen is suddenly full of someone's hatchback. The hatchback approached the roundabout in the left hand lane and planned on going straight over, putting us on the same bit of road at the same time. He actually undertook me on the roundabout, although in retrospect this was a good thing as if he'd been in my blindspot I think the chances of hitting him would have been higher.
5. Avoiding action from me, sheepish full lap of the roundabout, on to the A24. No harm done.
There are no direction lines on the road when you approach the roundabout, and my assumption (I know, I know) was that traffic using the left hand lane would be turning left, and traffic doing anything else would use the right hand lane to either go straight over or turn right. Obviously at least in this case I was wrong. I was very pleased not to have hit anything as for a moment it looked exceedingly likely.
I think the near miss was my fault, which is probably for the best as it's a handy cautionary tale the next time I fancy playing russian roulette with lanes on a roundabout. Interested to know what others make of it, advanced-driving stylee, though, how you would have approached it etc etc.
Vipers said:
personally I wouldnt have approached in the right hand lane
That's my conclusion from all this.Vipers said:
At the end of the day, a good result, and guess you and us readers have learnt something as well.
That's what I like about this PH malarkey, full of useful input that might just help keep my car straight and my insurance premiums manageable for a fraction of a second longer 
Byff said:
I was the person going straight ahead and the other driver tried to accelerate past me to exit, didn't work and rammed me off the road.
This was what I think nearly happened to me, minus trying to accelerate past the chap on my inside, that is. Thanks for your input and sorry to hear about the collision; hope you and any occupants were ok.Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff