I’m sick of getting bullied onto curbs because some impatient ■■■■■■■■ decides to overtake at a tight roundabout which has 2 lanes but the bends are so tight on approach and inside that if you’re in an artic you literally have to crawl and still if the ■■■■■■ overtaking you comes too close to the lane you could clip him. What happens is I’ll drive towards staying in my lane, look right - no one coming so I don’t need to stop, slowly but not snail-pace slowly approach roundabout sticking to my lane as much as possible, if too tight - meh I’ll go over the lane no biggie, EXCEPT when there’s someone behind me and on roundabout approach 1 lane becomes 2 and they shoot past me (talking about cars/vans obviously) at the last second so now I have to either slam on my brakes to give myself a chance to stay in my lane (usually too late for that because I’m already turning into the bend LEADING in) when entering and inside the roundabout or cut a bit to be on the safe side making sure I won’t hit Mr. White Van in-a-hurry-at-2:37 a.m. if my front wind deflector goes 1 inch over the white line but scrubbing/mounting the ns curb.
Yes, yes - anticipation and plan ahead, plan for the worst, expect the unexpected etc. What’s the worse that could happen if I were instead to immediately block both lanes on approach to give myself at least a better position entering the roundabout and if that itself is too tight maintain position until AFTER exit because the bend leading out is again too tight for any speed above 5mph. Mr White Van is going to be 1 min. 34 sec. late for his 3 a.m. appointment at Mrs. Bigglesworth’s garden shed? I’ll take a chance.
The relevant part says, “The size of your vehicle may have an effect on your road position, eg if your vehicle is wide you may need to straddle lanes, especially when turning.”
Now, that’s a general statement about “turning” rather than specifically about roundabout approach, but I think it shows that DVSA support the principle.
I certainly “help” other road users by using my road position. I’m not talking about swerving all over the road to block over taking, but in slow speed / tight locations where I have a far better view / understanding of the road layout and hazards ahead.
I always indicate out to straddle two lanes about 50 yards or so out from the roundabout if it looks too tight. At the end of the day you can’t be penalised for using the amount of road you think is necessary to safely make the manoeuvre, and if it happens that you think you probably could have made it when going round then no big deal. As you say it’s only added seconds on to the person who’s behind yous day and there car potentially stays on the road to live another day.
If had people go as far as driving along the pavement to get past me on some occasions. The only negative outcome would be if said prick decided to still squeeze past you and then inevitably get himself clipped. But then that’s his problem (especially if your fitted with those annoying cameras) as you’ve made your intention clear.
thehighlandscot:
I always indicate out to straddle two lanes about 50 yards or so out from the roundabout if it looks too tight. At the end of the day you can’t be penalised for using the amount of road you think is necessary to safely make the manoeuvre, and if it happens that you think you probably could have made it when going round then no big deal. As you say it’s only added seconds on to the person who’s behind yous day and there car potentially stays on the road to live another day.
If had people go as far as driving along the pavement to get past me on some occasions. The only negative outcome would be if said prick decided to still squeeze past you and then inevitably get himself clipped. But then that’s his problem (especially if your fitted with those annoying cameras) as you’ve made your intention clear.
Better safe than sorry I say
That happens a lot in the usual suspect areas where there’s a lot of impatient drivers, and due to the lanes being wide enough on approach but not in the left turn into the roundabout (or on the roundabout itself) it’s quite common to have them cut down the side even though you’re straddling the lanes. Though as you point out the intentions you have are clear as you have positioned yourself because you may need the extra room.
On a traffic light junction with a right turn lane (as an afterthought probably) just about big enough for a motorbike I took both lanes and I too had someone ram their car up the grass verge (we are talking half the car width here, not just a foot or so) to try to squeeze past. Unfortunately they couldn’t get far as they’d misjudged how tight it would be getting past the railings for the pedestrian crossing. With the side of their car inches from the back axle area of my trailer, I ended up stuck as I needed to turn quite sharp (hence why I needed both lanes) and couldn’t do so without wiping out the side of the car. Much blaring of horns from cars behind and eventually he/she reversed back out again.
KarlM:
On a traffic light junction with a right turn lane (as an afterthought probably) just about big enough for a motorbike I took both lanes and I too had someone ram their car up the grass verge (we are talking half the car width here, not just a foot or so) to try to squeeze past. Unfortunately they couldn’t get far as they’d misjudged how tight it would be getting past the railings for the pedestrian crossing. With the side of their car inches from the back axle area of my trailer, I ended up stuck as I needed to turn quite sharp (hence why I needed both lanes) and couldn’t do so without wiping out the side of the car. Much blaring of horns from cars behind and eventually he/she reversed back out again.
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Just reading this gave me a headache. I send daily prayers of gratitude to whatever god/s is listening for being on nights where traffic is light. At the end of my shift, when I feel like I’ve rubbed salt into my eyeballs, at least I can say to myself ‘‘Well, at least it was a quiet night’’ all in all…except the minor annoyances like some drunktards on saturday nights, maybe an unannounced road closure or two.
Available road space is there for you to use SAFELY even if that means crossing a double white line in order to negotiate a hazard
Doing so in plenty of time will prevent you surprising other road users and allow them time to adjust their driving
If you can’t negotiate the roundabout within the lane markings then it’s obvious that the highway code tells you that you ‘should’ ignore those markings and use the available space required.
If you can stay within the markings then what’s the problem with traffic beside you.
Almost as bad a drivers who stop past the stop sign or in the green cycle box at lights.
When your tuning left and it’s tight and they stare at you like your in the wrong.
edd1974:
Almost as bad a drivers who stop past the stop sign or in the green cycle box at lights.
When your tuning left and it’s tight and they stare at you like your in the wrong.
I find the front overhang of the trailer tends to focus their minds
What’s with all the sock stuff, I thought that was only for Nick the ■■■■ posts.
Anyhoo o/p…Being bullied? You’re doing something wrong, YOU are supposed to bully THEM…ask Jakey.
Thing is, I don’t know who taught you to drive, but when I was taught more years ago than I care to remember, it was along the lines of ‘Use every space available to you, as long as you do it safely and legally’ to…
A. Give you a chance of getting your trailer around.
B.Protect knobs in cars from themselves,.to avoid crushing them
Absolute basic artic driving stuff mate.
If the usual suspects come on and tell me I’m wrong, my answer is it’s worked for me successfully for a hell of a long time with no ■■■■ ups so far.
OK it’s been 14 years since I got behind the wheel of a truck but these roundabouts with 2 lanes on the approach and only one lane around the roundabout really do annoy me, they are just crazy! I always stick to the nearside lane if I am going straight on (Or turning Left) but often get some idiot in the outside lane thinks he is going to overtake me on the roundabout even when there is not a lane to go in. I blame the road planners for designing such idiotic road layouts!
I took my car and hgv over 40 years ago and took my motorcycle test around 20 years ago, every instructor told me to control the road space you need, whether its to avoid a manhole cover or a Skoda Yeti.
I do recall the instructor telling me to straddle the centre line on the roundabout and slowly unwind after passing the last junction before mine. It seems Royal Mail use different instructors.
In the UK we have a novel way of identifying roundabouts, yes, there are road signs, chevrons, road markings and helpful direction signs. They have one other thing too, Street Lights.
Now if I was Jeremy Clarkson and a question about roundabouts came up on Millionaire, this would be my answer.
All or the majority of roundabouts in the UK are lit by street lamps. Street Lamps mean the speed limit is 30mph unless posted otherwise.
So we have a major road intersecting a minor road but the major road is my 3rd exit. The speed limit to me would be 30mph as that is the limit on the minor road shown by repeater signals, plus the street lights.
So my vehicle is approaching the roundabout in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway to “turn right” The road I am on is a dual carriageway so I can do NSL.
Part of my judging role as a professional driver would be to either; (A) get round the roundabout slowly & safely, or (B) get round it at the NSL.
I would argue the speed limit on the roundabout is 30mph although I wouldn’t advocate looking at the speedo or make that the target speed.
I remember my HGV instructor telling me to take what I need. So that’s exactly what I do.
I have to take all or nothing though. So it’s a total half-half straddle. Any half measures and the half-conscious masses still find their way down one side or the other, and that’s not just car drivers.
Did your driving instructor not teach you how to take roundabouts and junctions when you were on your lessons? If you need both lanes, use them. Dominate. If there’s space for a car you can be sure Deborah in her Audi A1 or Dave in his white van will try and squeeze past and enter the crush zone making everyone concerned have a bad day. It’s not worth the paperwork. Just make sure you assess in time and use whatever space you need to to protect the morons from themselves and ensure you have enough space to get around whatever obstacle you are trying to. Easy really.
