Roundabouts... muppetry

Saruman · 09-07-2006 10:22pm #1

So im on my way to Oxegen today! Driving through Kinnegad towards Dublin.. you know the first roundabout you come to... left for Kinnegad or straight for Dublin (no 3rd exit). I go through and some retard comes from the 2nd exit without even looking and i had to slam on the breaks and hold my horn.. finally saw me with his nose sticking in front of my car and only inches between us we both stopped and im just thinking WTF?? Not even a boy racer.. respectable looking man with glasses and i think his wife in the car? Not sure.. i was tempted to get out and shout at him that he almost got us killed or worse... got our wives killed!! I reversed and drove around him and beeped my horn again... Muppetry!!!

Anyway while on the subject.. why is it so hard for people to understand how to drive on a roundabout?

As i dunderstand it... (i could be wrong) the rule is... obviously you give way to someone on the roundabout.. you give way to your right..

Anyway Lanes...
When you go on to a 2 lane roundabout you MUST stay in the left hand lane if taking first exit or 2nd (straight) and ONLY go in the right if taking 3rd or going around for 4th (180).
The ONLY exceptions to this is if the road markings say otherwise (like the on in blanch for navan road!) Or if there is a 2 lane road coming off where you can drive in the right hand lane and go straight through!
now 2 lane roundabouts with 2 lanes on the primary road... you NEVER go into left hand lane to go around the roundabout as someone in the right lane is likely to be going straight ahead...
Walkinstown roundabout... thats all kinds of fun... 3 lanes but as long as you understand the rules for 1 and 2 lane roundabouts then you cant go wrong.

Now i could be wrong about what i just said...

ninty9er · 09-07-2006 10:26pm

Could have been a foreigner. The French give way to traffic entering the roundabout

Saruman · 09-07-2006 10:38pm

Doubt it... Irish car not Foreign.. regardless... If I drive in another country i obey their rules!!

Bluehair · 09-07-2006 10:43pm

ninty9er wrote:

Could have been a foreigner. The French give way to traffic entering the roundabout

True, see this a lot near the airport. Mind you most Irish seem to think indicating right means they're heading straight on :rolleyes:

Stark · 09-07-2006 10:49pm

Saruman wrote:

When you go on to a 2 lane roundabout you MUST stay in the left hand lane if taking first exit or 2nd (straight) and ONLY go in the right if taking 3rd or going around for 4th (180).

Actually the rules of the road say differently. Left-lane for first exit. Left or Right for second exit. Right for 3rd and subsequent exits. Yes I know, it's dumb.

The indicators really get my goat. I'd say at most 10% of people I see going through roundabouts indicate correctly. Indicating right when taking a roundabout exit is the one that pisses me off the most. I guess roundabouts weren't as common when most people did their driving tests.

GreeBo · 09-07-2006 10:50pm

Bluehair wrote:

True, see this a lot near the airport. Mind you most Irish seem to think indicating right means they're heading straight on :rolleyes:

Thats nice, kind people telling you that they are coming onto the roundabout as opposed to vanishing into thin air...
Those that misuse their indicators are worse that those who dont use them at all.
I know you are coming onto the roundabout because I can fudging well see what lane you are in!!

Regarding two lan roundabouts, there may also be road marking to indicate otherwise.
Liffey Valley round abouts for example, inner lane is for 3 &4 only outer lane is for 1 and 2 only.
I failed to notice this before and tried to go straight on from the inner lane, only to meet a "lady" trying to use the 3rd exit from the outer lane...:eek:

Saruman · 09-07-2006 10:52pm

Rules of the road obviously need to be updated.. that was probably fine years ago but roundabouts today are different. Following the rules of the road in this case is actually dangerous!!!

Pherekydes · 09-07-2006 10:52pm

ninty9er wrote:

Could have been a foreigner. The French give way to traffic entering the roundabout

That's incorrect. They yield entering a roundabout, just like we do. I was in France for four of the last five years on holidays, and there are lots of roundabouts, and I never saw anyone treating them any different to the way we do. Or are supposed to...

Stark · 09-07-2006 10:54pm

It used to be the case in France that they yielded to traffic entering the roundabout, but they changed the law a few years ago to match the norm.

Pherekydes · 09-07-2006 10:56pm

Saruman wrote:

Following the rules of the road in this case is actually dangerous!!!

Elaborate, please!

ninty9er · 09-07-2006 10:59pm

When we were there on school tour the coach driver told us that in France drivers entering the roundabout have right of way and the traffic on the roundabout must yield.

The guy is a professional coach driver on the continent i think he knows his stuff

Pherekydes · 09-07-2006 11:01pm

ninty9er wrote:

When we were there on school tour the coach driver told us that in France drivers entering the roundabout have right of way and the traffic on the roundabout must yield.

The guy is a professional coach driver on the continent i think he knows his stuff

Was he French? As I said, I haven't seen anyone on a roundabout yielding to traffic entering it, anywhere.

Saruman · 09-07-2006 11:01pm

I should not have to... if there is only one lane coming off a roundabout and 2 cars are trying to get into the one lane.. well its all kind of fun. If the rules were followed the way i and a lot of other people do it then it makes more sense... left for 1st and 2nd exit and right for 3rd/4th unless there are 2 lanes straight ahead.

ninty9er · 09-07-2006 11:06pm

Slow coach wrote:

Was he French? As I said, I haven't seen anyone on a roundabout yielding to traffic entering it, anywhere.

He was Belgian, but drove tours all over Europe. He made a point of saying it because it's different to everywhere else

Pherekydes · 09-07-2006 11:13pm

"On roundabouts you generally give priority to traffic already on the roundabout, in other words, coming from your left as you enter the roundabout."

Quote from http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-france.htm

The fact he's a coach driver doesn't impress me.

And here's a corresponding quote from http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-belgium.htm

"When on a roundabout, give way to traffic entering from the left, unless signed otherwise."

Pretty much the same.

Wishbone Ash · 09-07-2006 11:14pm

The Malahide roundabout in Swords, on the R132 (old N1) is one where many motorists also get it wrong. Travelling southbound to Dublin requires one to take the 3rd exit (1st=Malahide, 2nd=Feltrim) but many drivers assume that they are going 'straight on' to Dublin and stay in the left lane.

Vegeta · 09-07-2006 11:57pm

http://www.irishmotoring.ie/cms/publish/rules_of_the_road_driving_the_car.php

the op is correct, its left hand lane for first and second exit, right hand land for subsequent exits

sneakyST · 10-07-2006 7:03am

I think the main thing some people need to remember is not to try and take the third exit while in the left hand lane. That Blanch roundabout going south onto the M50 from N3 is a bloody nightmare and then they give you funny looks when you beep them......now thats muppetry

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ · 10-07-2006 7:30am

no rules could cover the magic roundabout in cork...
at one point is has 5 lanes dropping down to two... try keep in lane...ha that's a laugh

Vegeta · 10-07-2006 9:30am

sneakyST wrote:

I think the main thing some people need to remember is not to try and take the third exit while in the left hand lane. That Blanch roundabout going south onto the M50 from N3 is a bloody nightmare and then they give you funny looks when you beep them......now thats muppetry

my personal hatred is when you want to take the fourth exit and have to cross from the inside lane to the outside lane of the roundabout to take the exit...but people from the third exit/entrance come into the outside lane making it impossible for you to take the exit cleanly.

GreeBo · 10-07-2006 11:42am

Vegeta wrote:

my personal hatred is when you want to take the fourth exit and have to cross from the inside lane to the outside lane of the roundabout to take the exit...but people from the third exit/entrance come into the outside lane making it impossible for you to take the exit cleanly.

Thats because, imo, roundabouts are "designed" for junctions that have low volumes of traffic making traffic lights an inconvenience.
In the US you have stop signs at these types of roads.
We went mad (like the UK) and use the everywhere.
The example you use clearly highlights the failure of a busy roundabout.
You HAVE to swap lanes to use a roundabout correctly if you want to use any exit after 2.

blastman · 10-07-2006 11:43am

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The Malahide roundabout in Swords, on the R132 (old N1) is one where many motorists also get it wrong. Travelling southbound to Dublin requires one to take the 3rd exit (1st=Malahide, 2nd=Feltrim) but many drivers assume that they are going 'straight on' to Dublin and stay in the left lane.

There is a feeder lane for the Malahide exit, though, so if you're at the roundabout, the Feltrim exit is really the first exit.

Hobbes · 10-07-2006 1:25pm

Stark wrote:

Actually the rules of the road say differently. Left-lane for first exit. Left or Right for second exit. Right for 3rd and subsequent exits. Yes I know, it's dumb.

Actually you are only allowed go straight ahead in the right hand lane if the road ahead has two lanes and lane markings can superceed that.

The indicators really get my goat.

Same here, but then my instructor many moons ago said they were only an indication that the lights were working on the car.

What annoys the fuk out of me is the muppets who try to over take you on the outside lane of the roundabout. Like waiting until we are off the roundabout actually matters. :mad:

Also annoying is the people trying to be polite. I pulled up to the mini-roundabout near my house and stopped as a driver (learner) was coming up on my right. He comes up and then stops his car as well. He clearly has right of way.

He then starts waving at me to go. I just say "You have right of way", at which point hes screaming at me "Just f'ing go!" and again clearly I tell him he has right of way. At this point the cars behind him are blaring and he finally pulls off and calls me a wanker as he drives by.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ · 10-07-2006 1:48pm

Hobbes wrote:

Actually you are only allowed go straight ahead in the right hand lane if the road ahead has two lanes

i think your wrong with this one.

Stark · 10-07-2006 1:50pm

The road ahead shown in those pictures has two lanes.

It's a pity they don't make it explicit in the rules of the road. A tiny little half page section on roundabouts is a joke.

ianobrien · 10-07-2006 3:10pm

I think that them pictures really show how to use roundabouts. Them pictures should be mounted on poles on the approach to roundabouts so there is no excuse

What really bugs me is the Bandon Rd roundabout in Bishopstown in Cork. Traffic coming in from Bandon and heading to the tunnel stay in the left lane (entering at 6 o'clock and leaving at 3 o'clock). As a result of the muppets staying in the left lane, they block the other two exits (9 o'clock & 12 o'clock).

The correct lanes on the right are always empty, but in fairness, the road marking are confusing.

Alun · 10-07-2006 3:57pm

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

i think your wrong with this one.

Look at your second picture .. what are those on the other side of the roundabout/ Yes, TWO lanes. So yes, the only situation when it's OK to take the second exit in the right hand lane is when there are also two lanes on the other side.

HelterSkelter · 10-07-2006 4:17pm

Ha, ironic that the original poster says "why is it so hard for people to understand how to drive on a roundabout", then goes on to show that he doesn't understand the rules himself!!..

saruman wrote:

When you go on to a 2 lane roundabout you MUST stay in the left hand lane if taking first exit or 2nd (straight) and ONLY go in the right if taking 3rd or going around for 4th (180).

Stark · 10-07-2006 4:34pm

Well as evidenced by confusion in this thread, the official rules of the road aren't the clearest.

Matt Simis · 10-07-2006 4:49pm

What about the other Blanch roundabout, going into the Shopping Centre from the Corduff/Business Park side. It was marked as "Left Lane for turning off left" (towards Naven road etc) and right lane for straight through and right.

Unfortunately only those that live and work nearby know how its meant to be used as the markings wore off the road over a year ago. So now you get 2 people going edit: straight (not left!) in both "lanes" which is impossible as its physically not wide enough. I dont think there is a right answer apart from the markings to be redrawn..

Matt

GreeBo · 10-07-2006 4:50pm

Matt Simis wrote:

So now you get 2 people going left in both "lanes" which is impossible as its physically not wide enough. I dont think there is a right answer apart from the markings to be redrawn..

AFAIC you can never go left from the inside lane....when did this start?:eek:

Roundabouts... muppetry

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