|
I've noticed an increasing number of drivers that indicate right at all roundabouts, even when going left. This used to be the case when I was young, I'm now 65, but it was modified in the Highway Code years ago. So why the change?
|
So why the change?
Health and safety? Political correctness? Something to do with global warming? EU ruling?
|
Stupidity? Morons?
Never remember a period in my driving history when "everyone indicate right on roundabouts" though!
Indicate right if you are going right, none if you're going straight on (though indicate left when approaching your exit) and indiacte left if you're going left... now whats so difficult about that?!
Edited by b308 on 24/01/2009 at 13:00
|
Stupidity? Morons?
i'm with that diagnosis......particularly irritating when you're on a motorcycle, you're following someone up to the roundabout, they use lane 2 (for some reason it's never lane 1), indicate right, so you think fine i'll have lane 1 then for straight on....then find conflict the other side because Mr Moron actually wanted straight on as well
my wife advises me she gets this every morning on the way to work, 2 or 3 people will sit in lane 2 waiting for a gap to enter the roundabout, she'll have lane 1, then there's argy bargy for straight on because they all want straight on.. and think she's pushing in.
I think a bit of Highway Code reading is needed. What on earth possesses someone to think that indicating right can mean straight on.
|
|
|
|
You're doing well to see anyone indicating these days, correctly or not.
The sheer idleness/ignorance/arrogance/stupidity/insert your own term here of those who manoeuvre without a second thought for any other road user baffles and infuriates me more than any other inaction on the road.
Their brake lights wouldn't come on ever unless they were automatic either.
|
I have to say that I don't use my own indicators a lot, since the IAM recommended that they should only be used when there is someone there to give information to. Of course, this includes if you are not sure whether there is anyone there or not. It's only a matter of being aware what's around you all the time, and that's not hard (if you are concentrating, which clearly IS hard for many)
Nor do I overly depend on (or trust) what other people are indicating. I don't think I'm psychic in any way, but I can correctly predict which way someone is going in well over 70% of instances, and when I am not sure, they get a bit of extra space.
And, btw, I am not a "holier than thou" kind of driver by any stretch...
Edited by smokie on 24/01/2009 at 15:22
|
|
|
|
|
Grrrrr! My pet hate!
Basically you can never tell which way they are going. Left means right - or straight on -
right means bah who knows?
Every day I try to enter a roundabout, waiting for cars to indicate that they are leaving it,
and I wait, and wait and wait - while they leave without indicating. Selfish morons.
|
>They leave without indicating. Selfish morons ..
It may just be that they hurtle round so fast there isn't time for the stalk to be operated and the lamp to flash.
And why do people entering from a slip road bother to indicate? They are chastised if they slow down, so what other choice do they have but to merge? So why indicate - it can't do a great deal to make them more visible?
Edited by Andrew-T on 24/01/2009 at 15:16
|
It may just be that they hurtle round so fast there isn't time for the stalk to be operated and the lamp to flash.
That's my technique.
|
|
|
|
> My pet hate!
.. might be the average-sized main-road roundabout - which can be negotiated at 20-30 mph - with a small hill or large thicket in the centre which limits the chance of getting onto the roundabout by reducing visibility.
|
|
|
|
ha!
You guys have it EASY!
there must be a grand total of about 40 roundabouts (ie 'traffic circles') in the entire republic of south africa.
Despite the technique being part of the test, the average driver doesn't have a *fluffy* clue what to do when confronted by one...
Great fun for us who use them every day, especially in a busy city like Cape Town, frequented by lots of out of town tourists....
|
I have the same concern when I walk to work during the week.
There's one particular roundabout that's on my route where people tend to enter the roundabout in the wrong lane (there are two lanes) without indicating their intentions leaving me not knowing whether it's safe to cross the road.
Chris.
|
|
A lot of drivers around here enter the roundabout in lane two and dart straight across to lane one on exit.
|
A lot of drivers around here enter the roundabout in lane two and dart straight across to lane one on exit.
>>
3 lanes into roundabout, and out at all exits...
Driver in furthest left lane comes in at 6 o'clock, exits at 3 o'clock.
Mayhem as guys going straight ahead see some clown crossing their bows... or about to T-Bone them!
|
|
|
|
I have not noticed any drivers indicating right at a roundabout only to go straight on (or even left).
That said, one recurring dream I have is of trying to park my car in "Croydon car park" (there's only one) but every bay is too small and, weirdly, my friends have also turned up and have the same trouble. I have this about twice a week. This has actually led to a real-life aversion to multi-storey car parks.
It could be a dream
|
|
|
Every man for himself and let the Devil take the hindmost works for me!
;-)
|
Here's a thought. I frequently need to go around a major island, the sort where several A roads & a motorway meet.
The lane I need goes around the outside of the island, past two exits before I need to leave.
I've developed the habit of entering the island with no indicator on, but indicating briefly as I pass the exits I don't need before indicating left to leave.
My fear is that with a lot of traffic, someone may assume I'm leaving as I reach the first two exits & collect me as I pass it.
My theory is that my right signal means "I'm still going around"
Any thoughts on if this is a good idea ?
Edited by mustangman on 26/01/2009 at 09:37
|
Very slightly o/t, but still roundabout/indicator related - I tried the (perfectly legal) 'dodge'
of turning/signalling right at a notoriously busy rondabout in LLandudno this Saturday. My direction to go (ultimately) is straight on.
The approaching 2-lane dual carraigeway is always backed up 200m or more with 'straight-ahead' traffic. The right-lane always empty - I breezed up the empty right-lane, signalling right & went right round once & continued straight on - my true destination - saved several minutes! Well chuffed. 'No Free Lunch' theory disproved.
|
>I breezed up the empty right-lane, signalling right & went right round once ..
There was a thread about doing this several months ago. It tends to cause some outrage among people who hadn't thought of it, or resist the idea. A blatant queue-jumping dodge which evenly distributes the time you save among all those waiting at the other entry points.
|
If you want real roundabout confusion try Swindon. How on earth there are not more accidents is beyond me.
|
|
|
A blatant queue-jumping dodge which evenly distributes the time you save among all those waiting at the other entry points
But it also gives the 'long queue' a bit of extra merge time since I stop the previous emerging queue (entry point before) blocking the 'long queue' - at least for a non-mimsing alert driver!
Edited by woodbines on 26/01/2009 at 12:28
|
|
I don't usually bother indicating when turning right at a roundabout as I'm usually on opposite lock...
|
I tend not to hurtle round roundabouts, gives people time to judge where Im going.
I do indicate however, just as I was taught when I learnt to drive - ie left ind left, straight on ind left for the exit and right ind right and change to left when you passed the exit before yours.
People are idiots though so indicators are only a best guess when judging what people will do.
Biggest dangers on roundabouts that ive seen are the total tools who come flying up to roundabouts so fast they cannot stop if they need to in the hope that they can fly past the back of your car with inches to spare ( which is why I dont rush, it forces them to slow more and not take a silly chance ) and also whoever it is that decided we need Kew Gardens on every roundabout, blocking your view of whats coming.
There is a roundabout in Northampton that is on a 70 stretch, nice and wide but has a funny camber and you cant see whats coming from the right due to the lanscaping until it is 15M from you - not much time to pull away safely from a standing start and all in the name of, presumeably, increasing near misses.
|
|
My IAM instructor (in the 80s) had a nice turn of phrase - one of which was "left hand brakeaway indicator" when turning off a roundabout still sticks in my mind 25 years on. Taught me on how to tame a 3 series rear end without software as well !
|
|
|
|
|
|
