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There is a roundabout near to me on a dual carriageway. The road joins and leaves as dual carriageway, the exit effectively being a right turn at 270 degrees. I was always led to believe that you can take any lane around this type of roundabout but you must exit in the lane you joined. The vast majority of people move to the right hand lane to negotiate the roundabout, cutting back to the left hand lane as they exit. Unfortunately if you use the left hand lane, you end up getting cut up on the exit and some people are not slow in letting you know that you obviously haven?t read the highway code! Damned if you do?? Perhaps arrows or a dividing line on the road might help.
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So you could be in the left hand lane next to somebody on your right. They might be going straight on and you could be going right?
Now I know how that person drove into the left of my daughters car on a roundabout! Your name isn't really Samantha is it ;-)
Regards.
FTF
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I would be inclined to agree with you Dave in that if there are two lanes feeding in and two feeding off then you stick to your lane. If someone in the right lane crosses into the left then clearly they are not looking or checking their surroundings. What would be the point of a left lane if it isn't going to be used.
These people are just moronic braindeads who think they have the god given right to drive on the road at any cost and everyone else is wrong.
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There is one like that on my way into work... dual carriageway in and out with another road at about 60 degrees... its accepted practice that as the main road is two lanes in and out then use both lanes, but there are always those (usually the more hesitent?) that try to use the outer one and then cut you up when exiting... They usually learn how to do it the hard way by trying to cut up a 7.5 tonner on the inside lane and then get it right next time they use it!
The key point is that the main road is clearly marked as such on the road signs leading up to it and its also clear that its a dual carriageway in and out so both lanes can be used... In effect its a normal roundabout on a bend in the dual carriageway, hence the offset exit!
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In Scotland it seems to be accepted practice to use the lefthand lane regardless of destination. I go home via J4 of the M9, come up the slip road (2 lanes) eastbound, to take the 4th exit 270° around the (large) roundabout (2 lanes round), and regularly have argy bargy with people doing the same thing but using the LH lane on the slip and the roundabout. It's not unknown to have argy bargy with people coming from the slip and taking the 5th exit at 300° - all in the LH lane, and sailing across in front of people trying to take the 4th. And it's not limited to this roundabout either....
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Sticking to the lefthand lane avoids people overtaking on the left, where they can be hard to spot. If however the lefthand approach is dedicated to left turning (as shown by a left arrow) the righthand approach lane should be taken, or the centre lane if there are three.
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The problem with some roundabouts like this, if there are no instructions about which lane to use, is that locals 'in the know' develop their own practice as to which lane to be in, and it's impossible to know, if you're not a savvy local, what to do for the best.
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At risk of asking a stupid question... Why was it ever made into a roundabout??? If there is one thing that roundabouts do not seem well suited to, it is ducting two parallel lanes of traffic through a 90 (or more precisely 270) degree turn where there are no other turnings, and none planned for the immediate future.
Some construction firm being paid by the metre that day? Special offer on roundabouts, limited period only?
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You see the "no other turning" type quite often on new roads where they plan another road which will lead to a new housing or industrial estate which has yet to be built...
In the case I refered to there is another road, and actually the roundabout is the most sensible and safest road layout for the junction... even the road markings are correct... its just that people ignore 'em!
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