Can of worms roundabout

Can of worms roundabout

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Discussion

Martin_Hx

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

205 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
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Unsure if this is the correct section for this post, but thought it was get the widest audience here.

Ok so i reguarly take this roundabout (figure of eight) and it recently cropped up on facebook post, regarding which lane you should in when entering one side and exiting the other.

The thread decended into chaos and i always thought i was in the right but this had me doubting!

https://goo.gl/maps/4rBrKsQYn16zxz8B9

So if you enter from one yellow to the other yellow, left to right, which lane should you be in?

I have always taken the right hand (inside lane) when going across, as you drive past 2 exits and indicate across to take the 3rd exit.

I wondered what the PH massive thought.



There are no lanes when entering but they do appear in places..

https://goo.gl/maps/mTG3ut1yK93Lx86K9

CharlesElliott

2,050 posts

289 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
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I think either is OK, but for 'straight on' I would default to the left hand lane.

boyse7en

7,115 posts

172 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
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With no "local" knowledge, if i was approaching that i would be in the left hand lane and would stay in that lane until i got to the exit. You could argue the right lane is legitimate too, but you would be in danger of being baulked at the exit by someone in the left lane.

Martin_Hx

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

205 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
quotequote all
Looks like i need the left hand lane in future then!

Ive always driven defensively on this road anyway, as ive seen both lanes used and people rarely indicate anymore rotate

Hub

6,573 posts

205 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
quotequote all
Probably left all the way, but entering the roundabout at the start you could equally start off on the right if traffic flow mainly heads left onto the A629, and then move over to the left when coming onto the roundabout after the junction.

ruggedscotty

5,792 posts

216 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
quotequote all
roundabout exits are all single exits. Slips to the overpass are not divided into lanes - the lane lines are a few meters onto the slip,

The roundabout itself....

Left lane for exit and right lane for going round id say.

your question left to right from yellow to yellow...

Id be in left lane as the yellow spot is on a single lane road. Highway code says exit to that from a roundabout is left. right lane will be for going round to overpass or back on yourself.


Leonstevenson

1 posts

15 months

Wednesday 9th August 2023
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I think it's just ok.

soad

33,453 posts

183 months

Thursday 10th August 2023
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I tend to use the inside lane (unless taking dog out near the canal), Halifax-Huddersfield bus often occupies the outside lane.

Nothing wrong with giving yourself some extra space. wink

akirk

5,618 posts

121 months

Thursday 10th August 2023
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be careful with roundabouts not to drive them just based on the theory of what is right - any one roundabout will vary contextually.
so if you rock up and there is a queue of people in the left lane indicating to turn off immediately - take the right lane and avoid each other, similarly if there is a queue of people in the right lane all indicating to take the final right turning, then choose the left lane and avoid each other.
If there is a mixture, then choose either lane and drive appropriately bearing in mind which cars are in front / behind / to your side - give them space, make your intentions known and keep on looking...

you should drive a roundabout intelligently, you can start with the theory, but the reality doesn't always reflect the theory and you need to drive it safely... whenever these questions come up the biggest issue is often someone saying that they drove the roundabout exactly according to a pretty picture in the highway code (probably based on a different roundabout!) but real life got in the way and someone else didn't quite do what the red / blue / green car did with its coloured arrow in the diagram biggrin

legally you can enter a roundabout at any lane and exit at any point and circle the roundabout as much as you wish - you just have to avoid other cars and not cause any issues - so yes, basic starting point of keep left always applies for this scenario, but don't be overly-rigid, drive to the context you find each day which might be different each day...

Pica-Pica

14,468 posts

91 months

Thursday 10th August 2023
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By and large, any route is OK on any roundabout as long as:
You don’t do anything unexpected as perceived by other road users,
You don’t have road users alongside you at any time (if that can’t be avoided , eg, heavy traffic, follow the signed or conventional route.
You signal appropriately.

Without further information, I would probably
Enter in the right hand lane.
Stay right as I assess traffic entering before my exit
Move over to left just under the fly-over (but be aware of traffic entering and blocking off the exit)
Exit from left hand lane.
Signal where appropriate.

Konrod

888 posts

235 months

Friday 18th August 2023
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Interesting. In actual fact although this is "figure of 8", that is purely about engineering only one "tunnel" under the main road. In that case it is effectively a roundabout (that isn't round) and I'd treat it as a roundabout, so LH lane if gong straight on unless traffic dictated otherwise (as said above). As everyone has said, it is about awareness of everything/everyone around you and good signaling that matters.

Martin_Hx

Original Poster:

3,982 posts

205 months

Monday 21st August 2023
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Konrod said:
good signaling that matters.
Which is non existant anymore! Oh dear rotate

Its definately a part of road that you need to check everything when traversing.

Thanks for the responces everyone! type