When Mini Roundabouts Come to a Halt

[bugeyewrx]

I thought I'd post this in Advanced Driving rather than SPL as I'm fairly sure of the legalities of this situation ( although I stand to be corrected ) and my question is more about the practicalities of dealing with it .

On my route to and from work I pass though one particular 3 way mini roundabout . It's a busy mrnb and it's not unusual for all three entries to come to a halt giving way to the person on the right . My approach to this has been to enter the mrnb if it's safe to do so and my way is clear .

My thinking has been that even if the person to my right were to enter the mrnb at the same time as me I wouldn't come into conflict with them as I would be clear before they reached my point of entry .

I was happy with this approach until a near miss caused by the driver to my right entering the mrnd just after me and cutting across the mrnd almost hitting the rear of my vehicle .

Now driving around London you get used to giving people a bit of room to do something unexpected even when technically you're in the right . I feel it's better to let them get on with it rather than deal with the insurance claim .

So my questions :

Was I right to enter the mini roundabout ?

What do you do in this situation , stationary mrnb ?

Would it be better do just come to a halt as well and wait for someone else
to make the first move ?

Martin .

mrnd on google map

[saaby93]

AFAIK the rule is that you only have to give way to someone already on the roundabout.
So all three of you can start out at the same time and circle it together

[fluffnik]

MiniRABs are just like the big ones - traffic ON them has priority, even over stuff from the right.

[Pigeon]

French textbook at school had a cartoon entitled "Priorite a droite" depicting four cars, one in each leg of a crossroads, with cobwebs all over them. If it is not to end up like this someone has to go first. I check out the other cars and their drivers to try and get some idea whether they're likely to deal with the situation actively or passively, and if the result of this assessment is that I think it unlikely that someone will come at me from the right if I move, then I move, and do so reasonably smartly so that if someone else does decide to move too soon after I've committed I'll be out of their way before anything happens.

[ymwoods]

In similar circumstances I tend to give way to the car still moving, even if its crawling over the car(s) that have already stopped on the roundabout, then work it from here. (although I am aware this is probably not correct, but in my experience, the car that is still moving usually just carries on anyway)

If all have stopped then generally its whoever goes "Oh screw it" and decides to go first

[waremark]

From a recent forum discussion on this same topic, it seemed that the law indicates that the car on the mini roundabout has priority, but the highway code suggests that you should give way to the right without regard to whether or not the vehicle to your right is yet on the mini roundabout. What is quite clear is that some drivers drive as though they have priority over vehicles joining from their left, even if the vehicle joining will enter the mini roundabout before them.

Even when you will arrive at the mini roundabout first, it must be prudent to be ready to give way to a vehicle arriving purposefully from the right, until or unless they look as though they are planning to stop.

[A.J.M]

This has happened to me a few times, however i've never had someone pull out to turn right as i move off.

I take the childish line of "winner takes all" and head out if the car to my right is not moving or looks to be about to move.

[CardShark]

I've always taken each occasion that I've faced this with the mindset that I'll make the first move unless it looks like someone else will, and when I do I make sure that I do so swiftly and indicate prior to and then during the maneuver when deemed to benefit others.

[GW65]

I prefer the Italian "highway code" which seems to be: "don't drive into someone in front of you". That way, you don't even need to use your mirrors! 4-way stops in the US also work (for Americans) because they tend to be quite courteous, but fail with a more assertive European in the mix...

[Tiggsy]

just floor it

[BarnatosGhost]

This reminds me of the philosophical situation of the logician with two mars bars who starved to death because he couldn't think of a reason for which one to eat.

If someone doesn't make the move to go first, you're all going to die at that crossroads. Some life-saving hero has to break the deadlock, and as an added reward for their greatness, that person also gets to cross first.

So 'barging' on is actually both the community-spirited AND the self-interested action.

Well done and thanks to everyone who does this.