Which lane is which?

Random

This is the area I'm talking about. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.382554,-6.361717&spn=0.004441,0.010042&z=17&om=1

The Blanchardstown exit at the M50.



You're driving from A to D.

When you're at A there is a sign for the 3 lanes which you have.
left - M50 North
middle - City Centre
right - M50 South / City Centre

When you get to B there is no other sign and you're down to 2 lanes. The left lane has already gone off down the M50. So I assume the middle and right lanes are what you still have.

If someone is in the middle lane and is heading toward E and you're in the right lane heading to D, who has right of way?

As far as I can see from the road signs and many people agree - the person going toward D is always going to have right of way based on the sign we've seen at A.

So, if you're in the right lane going toward D and someone is in the middle lane going toward E, if they cross your path then they're at fault. Right ?

This is probably only a question someone from the area, or who drives through the area daily will know.


Thanks !

alias no.9

The road markings and the basic rules of the road confer right of way on the driver in the right hand lane.

subway

ok, i think i udenrstand what your asking...

3 lanes start
left lane goes to m50 north
middle lane becomes left lane. in this lane you have to exit at C.
right lane remains right lane. you can exit at C or E.
cars in the left lane have right of way when exiting a roundabout at the second exit and cars in the right are merging into their lane.
the nature of the curve normally makes this fairly easy to do.
also ina roundabout with a 2 lane exit at C (like this one if its the one I'm thinking of) no merging occurs so no problem.
if the cars in the right lane trying to exit at C are stuck behind cars heading for E then they again may try to merge early, but cars in the left have right of way.

subway

wait!!!
someone in the left lane heading for exit 3 on a roundabout!!!
tell them to GTFO of your way...
they have no business doing that

any confusion here is being caused, i eblieve, by the exisitence of 3 lanes at the entracne to the roundabout.
this is not a 3 lane roundabout
the left lane at the entrance is a slip road (not the official name) onto the motorway

peasant

klick on the link in the first post and then change to "satellite" ...this gives you an aerial picture.

The place is a mess ...as between B and C the exit road from the motorway enters at what seems to be two lanes, making the roundabout three, if not four, lanes wide.

Total chaos.

In this situation it is best not to rely on "the rules" but rather drive "Italian style" and just waezle through somehow without causing an accident.

Everybody else will just do that anyway

subway

the roundaout seems no wider than 2 lanes + a slip road at any point.

BrianD3

This a confusing roundabout for those not used to it. If you are going from point A to point E on the map you must be in the rightmost of the three lanes as you approach the roundbaout. As you reach point B you find that the 3 lanes have become 2 lanes and you're in the right hand one. This right hand lane kind of drifts left making space for a new lane to your right.

If you are going from point A to D you are best approaching the roundabout in the middle lane but the rightmost lane also works.

One things for sure, if you want to go from A to E and you approach in the middle lane you will be in the wrong, As you say yourself the road markings say
left - M50 North
middle - City Centre
right - M50 South / City Centre

deman

I'd guess the engineer who designed this roundabout was having a bad day. I've always been dead against roundabouts. There are simpler ways to keep traffic running smoothly. Just have a look at the queue of cars coming off the M50 onto the roundabout.

Quick answer to the question - you should be in the right lane if turning off at D. You should be in the middle lane at A.

Random

I love the Italian style suggestion, I really do

I should have thought of aerial view the first time - glad someone thought of it lol


I'm not too confused about it myself, but every time I go through someone cuts across me from left going m50 south.

I'd love to know where I stand when it comes to the insurance company if we collide!

green123

instead of trying to save yourself 30 seconds why not just stay in the middle lane as you approach the roundabout ? then you dont have to worry about people cutting across you

Simon201

Happens all the time there. I go over this roundabout 2 or 3 times a day. Signs are quite clear before entering the roundabout so a person in the right lane heading to 'D' is within his rights and a person in the middle lane(left lane on roundabout) can only go to 'D'. All I can say is if you're on the right hand side lane heading to 'D' just make sure you indicate 'left' when exiting, while keeping an eye in your near side door mirror, and get ready with your hand on the horn, cos you're gonna need it at some stage, as if it comes to the crunch (npi!) get witnesses who can say you indicated and hooted - it may influence a claim.

Random

green123 wrote: »

instead of trying to save yourself 30 seconds why not just stay in the middle lane as you approach the roundabout ? then you dont have to worry about people cutting across you

While a fantastic suggestion it doesn't really answer my question or serve to further this thread at all. Thanks for your input though.

Thanks for all the thoughts lads!

copacetic

ciaranfo wrote: »

While a fantastic suggestion it doesn't really answer my question or serve to further this thread at all. Thanks for your input though.

Thanks for all the thoughts lads!

well in fairness he is about right, imo your example has a bad drivers in the wrong lane. However the outside lane doesn' 'have right of way' there is broken white lines all the way around, so the person can change lanes assuming it is clear. If you want to avoid bad drivers like this, get into the lane that they can't block you on. If you look at the sat pic version of the pic you link you can see clearly it works when people on the inside lane go straight and the outside lane turn. Why fight this?

The outside lane on that roundabout usually gets blocked by people turning right anyway, then you get fools trying to get out of it and jump onto the inside lane. Terrible drivers are everywhere, if you allow for this you will get along a lot better.

Random

I got pissed off by his reply which really didn't answer my question so I let rip. Sorry about that.

I really am more interested in finding out who's in the right, who's in the wrong, what the law is with this thread than actually finding "the best way to approach the situation".

Thanks for your input, sorry for the comment.

kdevitt

Legally, only the outside lane is to take you onto the M50 southbound as thats exactly how the road is marked - so anyone in the middle lane (which becomes the left lane after the northbound slipround!) is meant to go straight ahead only.

I've had loads of close calls here - it can be quite awkward to get into the middle lane in the morning (I go straight towards town) as I drive through Blanch, and the correct lane coming out of the village is a bus lane until 100 yards or so from the roundabout, and is normally blocked up, so I end up in the outside lane wanting to go straight through at the M50 roundabout.

Its a dangerous roundabout alright - although not as dangerous as the smaller one at Auburn Avenue.

Random

The smaller one where you come off at little chef and then onto Auburn... that little painted on one? Don't get me started! How they can squeeze 3 lanes into 2 and then into hardly any ... I'm shocked more people don't collide there. No matter what lane you bloody well go in someone will cut you off! (I'm not perfect ... I have made mistakes ... but this is just people and not caring about those around them!)

kdevitt

No - I meant the actual one at the little chef. You can't see the other side of the roundabout because of the trees, so when the traffic starts to back up there with the traffic lights, cars end up on top of other cars before they realise it. Then cars that are blocked in wanting to go straight, pull into the left lane in front of more traffic.

Now that you mention it, the painted one is crap too. That whole area is just a disaster. Was much safer when the M50 ended at Castleknock Tennis club

Random

Yah, the backlog of traffic turning to Auburn piles up around that roundabout and blocks the whole path of traffic into town!

Carawaystick

is it a roundabout legally or is it a series of junctions that are controlled by traffic lights?

for example the m1/R132 junction at Lissenhall is now a series of traffic light controlled junctions, several of the junctions have solid white lines and arrows directing motorists, none of then particularly clearly, especially on the R132 north to the Hearse road.

macshadow

OP first of all stop calling the left lane the middle lane when you have gone past the turn for the m50. What sign did you see at A that says the middle(left) lane can go to E.
you should be in the right lane heading for E and merge with left lane when past C.and you should be in the middle(left) lane heading for D.

Stark

ciaranfo wrote:

I'm not too confused about it myself, but every time I go through someone cuts across me from left going m50 south.

I'd love to know where I stand when it comes to the insurance company if we collide!

The person cutting across you would be totally in the wrong. However the insurance companies generally tend to split the blame 50-50 when it comes to roundabout collisions, as it can be so difficult to prove who was in the wrong.

Jip

It happens every morning, particularly by those backstards driving the roadstone type trucks. They drive on the round outside lane as it's usually flowing better than the inside lane that goes towards the M50 and then cut right across everyone to get down the M50. Cars in the right lane wanting to head towardsthe city centre have right of way over those cheeky impatient drivers. I've seen numerous accidents because of this.

Random

macshadow wrote: »

OP first of all stop calling the left lane the middle lane when you have gone past the turn for the m50. What sign did you see at A that says the middle(left) lane can go to E.
you should be in the right lane heading for E and merge with left lane when past C.and you should be in the middle(left) lane heading for D.

I was trying to draw the picture in peoples minds before someone mentioned the satelite view. By saying the middle lane I felt it helped before see which lane it was and where it came one rather from 3 lanes into 2, which doesn't say which lane is which. I thought it was non confusing until now... but anyway - this was my reasoning for it.