Roundabout Right of Way

pog it

This is something I handle safely in my day to day driving but since I am sitting the test shortly just wanted to check what to do in this case.

You have approached a roundabout in a slow and safe manner as normal and you yield at the line to see what traffic is already on the roundabout and what traffic is coming from your right so that you can give way.

In the case of where a driver is driving along the road to your right which is in the nearest exit to you, and they haven't reached their yield line yet, but they are speeding to make sure you yield way to them and that they can keep their momentum going (this is a very common practice in Carlow in my experience here), would you be penalised for waiting a long time at your yield line to let them go while they are speeding on their approach to the roundabout?
Normally I just bite my tongue and wait at the line rather than cause an accident but just want to be sure a tester won't penalise me for lack of progress or something else.

Mycroft H

pog it wrote: »

This is something I handle safely in my day to day driving but since I am sitting the test shortly just wanted to check what to do in this case.

You have approached a roundabout in a slow and safe manner as normal and you yield at the line to see what traffic is already on the roundabout and what traffic is coming from your right so that you can give way.

In the case of where a driver is driving along the road to your right which is in the nearest exit to you, and they haven't reached their yield line yet, but they are speeding to make sure you yield way to them and that they can keep their momentum going (this is a very common practice in Carlow in my experience here), would you be penalised for waiting a long time at your yield line to let them go while they are speeding on their approach to the roundabout?
Normally I just bite my tongue and wait at the line rather than cause an accident but just want to be sure a tester won't penalise me for lack of progress or something else.

It's a judgement call and it's one that only comes with practice.


In most big roundabouts with flowing traffic and good visibility by the time you get within 2-3 car lengths of the yeild line you should have already made your decision on whether your stopping or moving. All you should be doing is checking your mirrors and moving on.

Less fixating on whether there is a car to the right or not when you've made that decision; you should already know and it should matter little, your already on the roundabout!

miss no stars

Mycroft H wrote: »

It's a judgement call and it's one that only comes with practice.


In most big roundabouts with flowing traffic and good visibility by the time you get within 2-3 car lengths of the yeild line you should have already made your decision on whether your stopping or moving. All you should be doing is checking your mirrors and moving on.

Less fixating on whether there is a car to the right or not when you've made that decision; you should already know and it should matter little, your already on the roundabout!

To be fair it's quite clear that the OP is talking about a situation where they would normally go but now someone on the upstream entrance to them is speeding to beat them to it basically... Not how to go around a roundabout.

OP, if they're coming up fast - yield. The tester will of course be looking at what's going on on the approach to the roundabout. They'll see the speed of them and know why you're yielding. Just be ready to go asap after. Trying to shoot out ahead of them is dangerous.

Alan b.

more or less as moycroft says, with miss no stars advice taken on board too, if you are at the pont you are at the line and they are not, you should of course continue, as you are already moving, its not a stop sign. if you are a bit back, slow to allow them "beat" you to the roundabout.

if anything, it shows you are observing the road for hazards, identified one, and acted safely.

ProudDUB

Yield and just let them go on on their way and crash into someone else, that is not doing their driving test. It is very frustrating when you come across them, but there are idiots every where. If you speed up too, or just shoot out in front of them to mark your territory, that will not impress the tester at all. By yielding to a speeding and dangerous driver, you are not failing to make proper progress, you are reacting properly to a hazard. You don't get any good marks for winning a pissing contest, but you can definitely get bad ones for getting into the pissing contest in the first place.

pog it

Thanks for replies.

I thought about this some more and in my experience this most often arises when the (speeding) car is following at a distance behind another one who does have right of way because they are ahead of me on the approach or are just getting onto the roundabout. So the offending driver is just taking advantage of my having to already yield for the other car.

On the other hand the other does arise too- especially at mini roundabouts I've noticed - where they know if I drive out there will be a collision as there is no room for error.

I'm just afraid of how the tester is going to mark me if I give way to the one in the first scenario above.

Alan b.

a second car is still traffic,
you yield to traffic, not to individual cars, so you would be right to wait.
added to the fact as already said, you're reacting appropriately to a hazard

sparkynash

Only give way to traffic on the roundabout and use your indicator and stay in your own lane.

Alan b.

its not as simple as that, but, if you think of it in two parts, it may make it easier. you yield to traffic on the roundabout, and avoid dangers elsewere on the road. a car crossing the line is the one you yield to and the car speeding towards you trying to "beat" you, is the danger you avoid, in this case, by yielding to them too. any tester marking you down for that should probably not be a tester.

I can't tell you why

Yield or have them crash into you? I think you already know the answer to that one.