Safe Speed Forums

We have a roundabout in my town which does cause a lot of problems. People are always getting very close to having an accident and I just wondered what people on here think.

It is a four junction roundabout with the first exit being the A30 which for a hundred yards or so is a dual carriageway. The second is the A350, the third is into town and the forth, well is the way you are entering the roundabout and is a combined A30 and A350.

Most people use the left hand lane to turn left or to cross the roundabout and take the second exit. This is the way I was always taught and I think it is correct. The right hand lane is to go into town (3rd exit) or to come back on yourself (4th exit).

Other people are using the right hand lane to turn left. This is, in my opinion, rather dangerous, but it happens all of the time. They enter using the right hand lane, drive around the inside of the roundabout and then cut across other traffic to turn left (taking the first exit) but onto the right hand lane of the dual carriageway.

What on earth are they thinking?

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I assume this is here in Shaftesbury (the southernmost roundabout).

In general what you describe is wrong. However, when assessing which lane to use at a roundabout, you do need to take account of the weight of traffic using the various exits.

At that roundabout, as relatively little traffic will double back up the B-road to go into town, I would have said as a general rule you should approach in Lane 1 for the A30 and Lane 2 for the A350.

There are some roundabouts which are marked to allow both approach lanes to turn left, with all traffic going straight on or turning right being directed into Lane 2. A good example is the southbound offslip at M6 Junction 16, where about 90% of the traffic heads east on the A500 rather than west, and so left-turning traffic is directed by the markings to use both lanes.

If not specifically allowed by the markings, though, I agree it is likely to be dangerous.

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Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I can agree with that. The problem is the people who use Lane 2 for the right hand lane of the A30.

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I would guess it is because the B3081, which runs parallel to the A350, is a MUCH better road than the A350 at that point. Shame about the little squishy village at the top

I bet you'll find all the people turning left in the right hand lane will turn off first right towards Melbury Abbas, go down the B3081 and get back on the A350 at Blandford.
I always go that way. (but I turn left in the left-hand lane like a sensible bunny)
Turning left in the right-hand lane there is mad though. I don't think I've seen anyone do it while I've been there but I would guess they want to be in the right-hand lane of the dual carageway as soon as they get on it.

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Andrew.

It is a rather creative lateral thinking solution to congested routes and queue avoidance, and is certainly not dangerous or illegal.

They wouldn't go all they way around the roundabout if it was quicker to stay in the left lane. So it must be the quicker option. At least they are not turning left immediately from right lane to right lane (at least that is what I have assumed from your description).

I will admit that I have done exactly the same manoeuvre in the past on a different roundabout; despite being traffic light controlled it is quicker sometimes to go through the 4 sets of traffic lights than it is to queue to go left.

So what is my motivation? Well it is not actually about being pushy and moving faster, but is more about safety - the road from which I am coming up is the slip road from M5 J4 N up to the roundabout that is the junction, and the left turn is onto the A491 N. As should be obvious from the above description, the roundabout is traffic light controlled, and the maximum flow allowed by the lights is much lower than demand at certain peak times. So we get queues, back down the slip road until there is no more slip road, and then depending on who was there at the time either along the hard shoulder or down L1 of the motorway. Unfortunately this junction is effectively hidden around a relatively sharp left turn, so the queuing traffic is obscured from view, and as a queueing driver I feel very exposed. Hence this method of turning left.

The queues existed before the lights were installed, and the lights have improved things somewhat, but as usual this was the cheap and only partially effective solution - what is amazing is that the better solution would also have very easy and fairly cheap, but as usual nobody asked us drivers. Most people (~75%) want to turn left, so why not make it easy for us by adding a dedicated lane for those turning left that bypasses the lights?

Map of junction

You see a lot of traffic using the right lane to turn left on A41 Northbound onto A406 Eastbound junction. This is the route to link from the A41 (the main trunk route heading NW out of the West End) to the start of the M1. (The exit for Brent Cross Shopping Centre is a little slip road before the junction).

This annoys me particularly as I usually turn right off that roundabout and the right-hand lane is relatively empty if not taken up by left-turners.

The 113 bus uses the left lane then continues straight ahead.

I often undertake this manouvre on the northern part of York's outer ring road. I find that if more people did it, it would reduce queues, air pollution, noise, blah, blah....

Plus it helps to get to wher eI am going quicker. The roundabouts are big enough so you can't see from one side to the other so it doesn't cause offence, and I take the lane as though I'm turning right.

I see no problem in this,

That is exactly what they are doing.

They approach the roundabout in the right hand lane, drive round the first quarter of it in the right hand lane, then turn across the left lane traffic to turn left.

Most of the traffic in the left lane do turn left into the left hand lane, but some turn onto the right hand lane and a few are going across the roundabout, a la old style Highway Code.

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If you're right, did your heels in
If you're wrong, admit it!

Sink the scameraships
Give us back our Police Force

In that case I agree with you that this is a relatively dangerous manoeuvre, as those in L1 going straight on would not expect that this is going to happen. At least it will be a low speed accident.

If they want to do such a move, then the technically acceptable method is to go all the way around the roundabout.