A little help regarding this roundabout

Chrizfitz · 11-11-2010 12:16pm #1

Hi,

Driving through Clane last night with the missis at the wheel and we come to this roundabout:

Link

If you use streetview you can see there is two lanes, an exit to the left and and exit straight through. We were 4th in line in the where the road splits into the 2 lanes for the roundabout. Presuming that all 3 cars in the left lane were were turning left my girlfriend got into the right lane and continued to go straight through the roundabout. It turned out all 3 cars were also going straight through.

Ok we see bad drivers all the time and thought nothing of it continued on our way dropped into tesco to pick up some supplies. Parked and as we were walking in we heard.

"Are you driving that blue car? You cant drive to save your life!!"

Turned around and this little fat 30 odd yo woman was giving out to us for cutting her off at the roundabout.

The missis hates pricks like this so asked her why was there 2 lanes and 2 exits? Why was she in the left lane if going straight through?

To this she replied " you see how they show you on tv!" I knew she was talking about the road safety ad which is about a roundabout with 2 lanes and 3 exits.

Fed up of this I said "Listen why would I listen to a woman who parks in a disabled spot with no disabled sticker on her car and her arse out in the middle of the road? **** off!"
Heres her car:

So what I'm wondering is who's right?
Why is there 2 lanes for 2 exits if I'm wrong?
The rules of the road site is down so cant check.

All help is appreciated.

challengemaster · 11-11-2010 12:27pm

As there's no road markings indicating which lane is for which (eg. left lane for left only, right lane straight through and other exits) which is stupid, but normal rules apply. left lane for any exits before 12 o clock, right lane for any after. I think you were wrong in this case.

also, there's 3 exits, you're forgetting the one you just came from.

And imho that roundabout is way too small for a 2 lane system anyway.

bladespin · 11-11-2010 12:31pm

Lane 1 for 1st and 2nd exits, lane 2 for 3rd etc.

Not familiar with that roundabout but it sounds like your lady friend made the mistake.

Abelloid · 11-11-2010 12:35pm

Looking at that street view I would have thought left lane for going left and right lane for straight through, where else would you go from the right lane?

Chrizfitz · 11-11-2010 12:38pm

Does anyone have sources for this though? The rules of the road part of the RSA is down.

For those who think left lane is for left exit and straight through can you tell me what the right lane is for? Going all the way around?

KamiKazi · 11-11-2010 12:46pm

I've never seen that lane used as a two lane road, always just cars queuing up in one lane, it's a bit too narrow for two lanes IMO.

Abelloid · 11-11-2010 12:50pm

Chrizfitz wrote: »

Does anyone have sources for this though? The rules of the road part of the RSA is down.

For those who think left lane is for left exit and straight through can you tell me what the right lane is for? Going all the way around?

The right lane should be for the third exit but in this case that would mean a u-turn.. no idea why they have two lanes approaching from that side...

sentient_6 · 11-11-2010 12:55pm

Chrizfitz wrote: »

Presuming that all 3 cars in the left lane were were turning left my girlfriend got into the right lane...QUOTE]

Were they indicating left?!

The problem in this situation is the rules of the road & what makes sense for the roundabout are different things. I wish councils would always put clear road markings when something other than the rules of the road would make sense. I.e, right for straight on in this case.

IMO though because there was no markings the ROTR is what you should go by. Therefore left for straight, no matter how stupid it seems.

Anan1 · 11-11-2010 12:56pm

OP - It's a badly marked roundabout, but I think your 'missus' was wrong. Silly as it sounds, the left lane is for the first & second exits, the right for the third exit. Your driver should have accounted for the possibility that some or all of the three cars were going straight through.

Zubeneschamali · 11-11-2010 12:57pm

Chrizfitz wrote: »

So what I'm wondering is who's right?

Technically, the fat prick young lady was correct, and your Mrs. was in the wrong.

As a practical matter, that's a really badly designed and marked roundabout.

[EDIT] I notice that the other two entances to the roundabout have the same stupid markings: two narrow lanes with no arrows indicating which lane to use for straight through or right turns.

Chrizfitz · 11-11-2010 1:00pm

sentient_6 wrote: »

Where they indicating left?!

I would guess this is the big question. I would have to presume no and therefore the whole being careful whether your right or wrong comes into play. It seems to be a bit of a head**** but I think I will be treating it as left for 9 and 12 for now on. Thanks guys.

She was still a spa tho

.

cantdecide · 11-11-2010 1:10pm

All of the many roundabouts in Carrigaline (Co.Cork) are arrowed that left lane is left only (1st exit) and right lane is straight/ right (2nd and subsequent exits). I don't know what the town council knows that the rest of the world doesn't.

IMO, she broke the first rule of roundabouts- stay away from everyone else. Then you're all free to be idiots. That roundabout needslane arrows for sure.

mobitron · 11-11-2010 1:13pm

<RANT>
Yep, the ROTR are crystal clear on this point. Unless there are markings indicating otherwise, the left lane is for the first and second exits. Right lane is for all subsequent exits.

It is also true that many, many drivers are unaware of this rule and use the right hand lane for going straight through, or assume that anyone using the left lane is turning left (i.e. taking the first exit).

It is also the case that many, many drivers do not know how to signal correctly at roundabouts, especially when taking the first exit; they assume that being in the left lane is enough to tell people which exit they are planning to take.

Add to this the fact that roundabouts tend to have very poor signage, so that in a lot of cases you are entering the junction by the time you are told which exit is the one you want.

All of this means that navigating any roundabout is an exercise fraught with danger where mind-reading skills are as important as anything you learned from the RSA book.

</RANT>

Anan1 · 11-11-2010 1:32pm

Chrizfitz wrote: »

She was still a spa tho .

In fairness, having a driver in the wrong lane almost take the side off you can do that to people.;)

corktina · 11-11-2010 1:58pm

technically you are wrong...sensibly you are right. It really a badly designed and marked out roundabout to blame.

Zubeneschamali · 11-11-2010 1:59pm

mobitron wrote: »

Yep, the ROTR are crystal clear on this point. Unless there are markings indicating otherwise, the left lane is for the first and second exits. Right lane is for all subsequent exits.

No, the ROTR are not crystal clear on this point, as long threads in this group in the past illustrate.

My reading is a bit different from yours: unless there are road markings indicating otherwise, the left lane is for any exit to the left or straight ahead, and the right lane for any subsequent exit.

So for a 3 exit roundabout which is a T junction, our readings differ: I think you should be in the right hand lane indicating right for the 2nd exit (a right turn), and your reading says not.

cjt156 · 11-11-2010 2:04pm

mobitron wrote: »

Yep, the ROTR are crystal clear on this point...the left lane is for the first and second exits. Right lane is for all subsequent exits.

Its not actually.
It doesn't mention first and second exits. The second exit could be on the right at a T-shaped r'bout.
People like to quote first and second, 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock etc. What the ROTR actually refers to is Turning Left, Straight Ahead and Subsequent Exits.

dr.fuzzenstein · 11-11-2010 2:47pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPjIlh9DTZc

Jimmy Bottlehead · 11-11-2010 2:55pm

I'd have stuck in the left lane myself... fair enough, there's no third exit as per normal, so no need for a right lane really, but for straight ahead I always stick in the left lane unless the markings state otherwise.

keithclancy · 11-11-2010 3:07pm

IMO alot of roundabouts are setup really badly in Ireland. Expecially when you have lights on them, snarls everything up becuase traffic treats it as a junction rather than a roundabout and block the whole thing up.

Most of them are not clearly marked and in the cases where they are marked they don't its very difficult to end up in the correct lane

Example:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cork+Airport,+Ierland&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.223579,114.169922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Cork+Airport,+County+Cork,+Republic+of+Ireland&ll=51.873689,-8.469939&spn=0.001181,0.003484&t=k&z=19

1 Lane merging into 2 on the roundabout, also if coming from the Left side there edjits that just stay in left lane and try and cut in going around and when the traffics heavy its a total disaster, lines of traffic block the exits for cars trying to get off the roundabout.

djimi · 11-11-2010 5:08pm

I use this roundabout every day. Its absolutely moronic that its a two lane roundabout.

FWIW the way I drive and most other sensible people seem to drive it is that if you are taking the left exit you use the left lane, and for the right hand exit you use the right hand lane. I come at it from the other side and am going right towards Naas, so I will stay in the right hand lane. Cars in the left lane only ever go straight. It may not technically be correct but anyone capable of thinking for themselves with half an ounce of common sense will drive it like this.

The woman in question may have been technically correct but she will cause an accident on that roundabout some day if she continues to drive like that.

E39MSport · 11-11-2010 5:26pm

The 2 lanes might be squeezed in to accommodate the first house on the straffan road? Maybe they're only access to the road is to turn left due to the white line so the council messed up the roundabout for that purpose?

ha, by that logic, that means the poor fecker on the other side has to drive to Straffan and back to pop next door to Tesco....

bladespin · 11-11-2010 5:31pm

There's more and more of these popping up all over the country, seems no-one is quite sure what lane to use, any I've been on around Navan it's left for left turn or straight ahead, the right lane reamins pretty much unused.

Out of curiosity, if there had been a crash who would be in the right? I've seena few near misses on these over the years and always wondered.

Zubeneschamali · 11-11-2010 6:17pm

bladespin wrote: »

Out of curiosity, if there had been a crash who would be in the right?

Technically, the OPs Mrs. is probably in the wrong if there's a crash, but...

1) we're quoting the RoR, not the law

2) it might depend on who actually hits who where

3) If it went to court, the judge could decide it on whether he likes the OPs Mrs. better than the fat spa other young lady, and then you might have to appeal it.

4) The insurance companies could settle it by tossing a coin and settling without consulting either driver

5) make up your own number 5

GreeBo · 11-11-2010 7:44pm

How the RSA thought that "left, straight & right" were clearer than "1st, 2nd, subsequent" will forever remain beyond me.

A little help regarding this roundabout

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