Could someone tell me if I am doing this wrong our if it is everyone else?
I Approach a roundabout and I want to take the third exit, so I move over to the right hand lane, the exit I want is slightly past the straight on, if you think clock face entering at the 6 I am leaving at the 1. There are no lane markings telling me which lane to use on entering.
So why do most drivers remain in the left lane?

If it helps this is the teddington cross roundabout, I an entering from the cheltenham road and leaving towards evesham.

Because most people don’t seem to have an effing clue when it comes to negotiating a roundabout.
Decent road markings (arrows) would help in many cases.

Without knowing the road I would say your doing it right. However if you are on the main road entering the roundabout, and the exit at 1 o’clock is the continuation of that same main road then in theory you should use the left.

Left lane for first exit, right lane for 3rd and 4th, either for 2nd/middle/straight across and full use of indicators and controlled speed.

I feel your pain !! And you can’t trust indicators either folk don’t use them or outright lie !!

Because most people don’t seem to have an effing clue when it comes to negotiating a roundabout.

Maybe you could explain how to use a roundabout, for all of us clueless people.

IMO – it totally depends on the roundabout in question and what most other people do

Go with the flow and don’t be too tied up with trying to do it to the letter of the rules/recommendations
It doesn’t really matter as long as everyone gets where they want to be without chaos

See so many near misses on the commute where selfish idiots turn right (3rd exit) in the left hand lane. Have seen a Range Rover (right hand lane, straight on 2nd exit) pummel an A6 doing just that in the last week. A6 driver was incredulous with rage and wouldn’t accept that he was in the wrong until the police showed up.

Go with the flow and don’t be too tied up with trying to do it to the letter of the rules/recommendations

No. Drive right ffs.

Am I the only one who respects the goddamn rules?!

Its drive right AFAIK (was taught), with exceptions only if the road markings say so.

Uplink, what ‘most other people do’ is irrelevant. Most other people are sheep and don’t look more than 10 yards in front of them

If the lanes are not marked stay left for left and right for right. If there are 3 entry lanes, use middle for straight on, if only 2 entry lanes, either can be used for straight on.

Or, if you want to go left and there’s a big queue in the inside lane, use the outside lane, pass all the cars, then do a quick lap of the roundabout…..

This REALLY pisses people off. But only because they didn’t think of it first. I do it regularly, and theres bugger all anyone can do about it ! 🙂

+1 PP lap of the roundabout is a gem!

+1 PP but most people i see take the shorter queue and still exit where ever they want without regard.

If it had lane markings then you should be in the centre of the most left hand lane that is going in the direction you wish it take. But you have no road paint so this is useless.

on Bike or Car..??

Car, right lane if exit anything past 12o’clock, left for anything under..
Bike, do the same as above but don’t get pushed into the inner lane (against the kurb) otherwise you’ll be riding around like a looney all day.

When I was learning to driving my instructor told me that general rule of thumb when navigating a roundabout is that you should compare one to a clock and that anything from 12 – 6 is the right hand lane and from 6 – 12 is the left hand lane unless instructed otherwise.

Highway code 186

Is the majority of the traffic stacked up in the outside lane, looking to go out on the 3rd lane & is the inside left turn lane quiet?

Might just be queue jumpers

Happens all the time on a roundabout near me too

looking on googles map i would be quite comfortable using both/either. Getting stressed out over it would be more worrying.

I take the line that allows me to keep as much speed as possible, combined with an approach that allows me to brake hard at the last minute.

The key is to use the roadsign to decide on the lane, even if the exit is the fourth at 1 o clock, if the sign shows it at 12, its left lane unless otherwise marked.

You can enter a roundabout at 5 o clock and leave at 2 o clock, but if this is the primary route the sign will often show the entry and exit at 6 and 12, to pass a driving test you would still use the left lane. There was one like this on the test route when I did my HGV test, the 2 o clock exit was actually the third exit but I still had to use the left lane (actually I had to use both lanes but in something smaller it would be the left lane only)

Going straight across, you should only use the left lane unless its a dual carriageway or the lanes are marked otherwise.

PeterPoddy – Member
Or, if you want to go left and there’s a big queue in the inside lane, use the outside lane, pass all the cars, then do a quick lap of the roundabout…..

This REALLY pisses people off. But only because they didn’t think of it first. I do it regularly, and theres bugger all anyone can do about it !

I’ll bite…No, it annoys poeple because it’s discourteous and because it slows the flow of traffic from the correct lane. Right up there with middle laners IMO. ‘This is more convenient for me, sod everyone else’.

retro83 – Member
i’ll bite…No, it annoys poeple because it’s discourteous and because it slows the flow of traffic from the correct lane. Right up there with middle laners IMO. ‘This is more convenient for me, sod everyone else’

Pish.

No it annoys poeple because it’s discourteous and because it slows the flow of traffic from the correct lane

Yes, if everyone did that then the whole roundabout would be snarled up for people who weren’t going anywhere near the blocked road.

It’s queue jumping I’m afraid.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338

I’ll bite…No, it annoys poeple because it’s discourteous and because it slows the flow of traffic from the correct lane. Right up there with middle laners IMO. ‘This is more convenient for me, sod everyone else’.

I’m with PP on this one.
If you agree with the above quote, do not, I repeat DO NOT bring your car to Spain, this kind of thing is par for the course and you are generally considered a bit slow if you don’t think about it. Between this and the “somebody put a small dent/scratch on my car” thread, I now have something to chuckle about. Bumpers are for bumping! 😆

So a queue of people waiting patiently to turn, why do you think you should be allowed ahead of them?

Do you go to the supermarket and walk up to the front of the queue and push in?

In Spain? Yes. 😆 Not exactly push in, but if the till next to the queue you are waiting in opens, it then becomes a free for all at the newly opened till.
Queue at a bus stop? You’re having a laugh.
The car you’re following on the motorway* might just suddenly hit the brakes and try to force a gap on the slip road, blocking the inside lane.
Flashing your headlamps means “I’m coming through, get out of my way” and not “after you!”.

Different culture. You snooze, you lose. 😆

*More of a dualcarriageway than motorway, but it does have 3 lanes and the traffic goes like stink.

I’ll try and explain this in an English way.
When approaching a roundabout with two lanes, there is a high, very high, probability that the car on your outside will try and jump you to take the first exit.
Cars will travel 270º to the third exit in the outside lane of a roundabout to stop people entering, because they’re nervous that if another car enters they won’t be able to exit… 😆

^^ Great approach that results in this sort of thing:

Yay! That looks normal. I have actually sat at a set of traffic lights where the traffic moved through the lights on red and stopped to let the others through when we were on green, all under the supervision of a traffic cop. 😆

That’s traffic lights not a roundabout…

I love watching the traffic at Arc de Triomphe

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lElTtHLdmPw&feature=related[/video]

My wife’s from near Naples and when we go there I totally amazed how they drive, it’s superb 🙂

Or, if you want to go left and there’s a big queue in the inside lane, use the outside lane, pass all the cars, then do a quick lap of the roundabout…..
this is the act of a selfish arse.

Different culture.

I know. I was talking to PP 🙂

The link road to the forth road bridge from the M9 used to be a dual carriageway up to a small roundabout, then left onto a single to the bridge. Resulted in horrendous queues of people in the left lane, with numerous ill-educated savages trying the right hand lane then right-round the roundabout move.

Couple of times I saw HGV drivers pull into the right hand lane and just sit there, crawling along at the same pace as the queue, to block the queue jumpers. Funny, unless you did in fact want to turn right at the roundabout in which case you were SoL.
(right was a very minor road to Kirkliston IIRC).

in the car use the highway code/6-12 12-6 rule (and learn to indicate after the exit before yours not after the entrance before your exit).

on the bike on wide roundabouts this

higgo – Member

I take the line that allows me to keep as much speed as possible, combined with an approach that allows me to brake hard at the last minute.You can try doing the highway code version but all the drivers will undertake or overtake or do pretty much anything to get passed you regardless of where you or they are going.

See in that arc de triomphe video – if that had been in the uk the cyclist would be dead.

Don’t move to Middlesbrough whatever you do.

There’s 2 roundabout near me where you have to be in the left lane to go anything other than 5 exists!

Confused me the first few times as the 4th is still more than 270deg away from you, but you need to que up on the left, then cut accros 2 lanes of the roundabout to get to the 3rd, the 4th being the straight through from the right hand side.