Cars driving full belt through roundabouts as if they aren't there

C4Kid

On the way home approaching a roundabout which was clear with nothing on it and nothing on the approach road of which I was yielding as far as I could see. I move off and as I move onto the roundabout a car comes from behind to go straight ahead at close to 50 kph imo (road limit). There was no collision but it did get me thinking.

My question is: If a collision is caused because I pull out onto a clear roundabout and a car doesn't slow sufficently on their approach and hits me, am I still at fault under " failure to yield"?

Cheers

I understand if you're already on it you have right of way

Supergurrier

Yield to traffic coming from right is about only fast and hard rules of roundabouts

KwackerJack

C4Kid wrote: »

On the way home approached a roundabout which was clear nothing on it and nothing on the approach road of which I was yielding as far as I could see. I then move off and as I pull out onto the roundabout a car comes from behind to go straight ahead at close to 50 kph imo (road limit) and almost takes me out of it.

My question is: If a collision is caused because I pull out onto a clear roundabout and a car doesn't slow on their approach and hits me because of they don't slow sufficiently approaching a roundabout, am I still at fault under " failure to yield"?

Cheers

Yes possibly but I suppose if you could prove their speed was excessive and you did in fact drive with the appropriate due car and attention you might be OK!

If there was a Collision the crash scene guys would be able to say what the speed was at the time of the impact......I presume.

Youngblood.III

I had two near misses today..most weeks at least one, if a crash happened it would have been others fault , but it could easily be blamed on me if the others wanted to try it on. ...this is the reason I got myself a dashcam
...too much bad driving out there.

Charlie19

once they indicate when exiting, I don't mind.

pablo128

I am the type that sees the likes of speed limits as more of a rough guide. However I have a few hard and fast rules which have served me well so far. One of those, is to be prepared to stop at every roundabout, including those sh1tty painted ones.

C4Kid

Youngblood.III wrote: »

I had two near misses today..most weeks at least one, if a crash happened it would have been others fault , but it could easily be blamed on me if the others wanted to try it on. ...this is the reason I got myself a dashcam
...too much bad driving out there.

I have also got a dashcam and it was recording earlier and like yourself it saves a lot of trouble if the one at fault decided to try it on. We've all heard stories where they have got away with it...

Mycroft H

Can be made worse by those stupid ornaments they've plonked in the middle of a roundabout. Reduces visiblity of cars coming round, and if they're coming fast, you could be in the way. The one at intel/lidl in lexilip is terrible for that.

C4Kid

Mycroft H wrote: »

Can be made worse by those stupid ornaments they've plonked in the middle of a roundabout. Reduces visiblity of cars coming round, and if they're coming fast, you could be in the way. The one at intel/lidl in lexilip is terrible for that.

Good point actually

Del2005

C4Kid wrote: »

On the way home approaching a roundabout which was clear with nothing on it and nothing on the approach road of which I was yielding as far as I could see. I move off and as I move onto the roundabout a car comes from behind to go straight ahead at close to 50 kph imo (road limit). There was no collision but it did get me thinking.

My question is: If a collision is caused because I pull out onto a clear roundabout and a car doesn't slow sufficently on their approach and hits me, am I still at fault under " failure to yield"?

Cheers

The car came from behind, how many lanes entering the roundabout?

Victor

Supergurrier wrote: »

Yield to traffic coming from right is about only fast and hard rules of roundabouts

Some people get it into their minds that this applies even if the traffic on the right isn't even on the roundabout yet.

Mycroft H wrote: »

Can be made worse by those stupid ornaments they've plonked in the middle of a roundabout. Reduces visiblity of cars coming round, and if they're coming fast, you could be in the way. The one at intel/lidl in lexilip is terrible for that.

If you can't see, slow down.

Supergurrier

Mycroft H wrote: »

Can be made worse by those stupid ornaments they've plonked in the middle of a roundabout. Reduces visiblity of cars coming round, and if they're coming fast, you could be in the way. The one at intel/lidl in lexilip is terrible for that.

Is one in Galway with a bunch of trees in the middle near briarhill where recently some poor old man crashed car stopped in middle of tree's and it was afew days before they found him dead.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/postmortem-due-on-man-found-on-galway-roundabout-1.2419769

I must have passed it a dozen times in those few days

Madness visability is key why landscape bloody roundabouts

newacc2015

Mycroft H wrote: »

Can be made worse by those stupid ornaments they've plonked in the middle of a roundabout. Reduces visiblity of cars coming round, and if they're coming fast, you could be in the way. The one at intel/lidl in lexilip is terrible for that.

I used to live beside a roundabout on a busy main Dublin road. DCC had to put a lights and bushes on it. Im not exaggerating, but every few months on a Saturday/Sunday morning before they put the lights/bushes. There would be a car parked in the middle of the roundabout. Drink drinkers never saw the roundabout approaching even with the yield light boxes and the arrow signs around it. They used to go through the roundabout literally and get stuck on the grass.

C4Kid

Del2005 wrote: »

The car came from behind, how many lanes entering the roundabout?

Two lanes, well they pulled out from the road I was yielding to (to my right) and as I was getting on the roundabout I saw him in the edge of my mirror as I was turning which then put him behind me.

pablo128

Supergurrier wrote: »

Is one in Galway with a bunch of trees in the middle near briarhill where recently some poor old man crashed car stopped in middle of tree's and it was afew days before they found him dead.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/postmortem-due-on-man-found-on-galway-roundabout-1.2419769

I must have passed it a dozen times in those few days

Madness visability is key why landscape bloody roundabouts

There is a method to the madness. It dates from the 50s I believe, though I'll have to go off and find the link. Basically they place road signs etc in a certain way to partly obscure the entry/exit on roundabouts to slow people down and make them look more closely.

Mycroft H

Victor wrote: »

Some people get it into their minds that this applies even if the traffic on the right isn't even on the roundabout yet.


If you can't see, slow down.

It's the others that are going round fast. I'm it arsed rushing.

xband

Theres a roundabout on the Rochestown Road in Cork at the end of the exit from the N40.
I regularly find cars treat it as if it's not there. I was ON the roundabout and a car doing at least 70kmh in a 50 entered the roundabout (after I was well on it) and blasted the horn at me for being in the way!!

As far as she was concerned the "main road" through the roundabout had absolute priority and treated it as if it simply wasn't there.

I think it's largely about unbalanced junctions and where there's poor design (circle is too small to slow traffic adequately)

MaryAntoinette

Mycroft H wrote: »

It's the others that are going round fast. I'm it arsed rushing.

You enjoy arse rushing?

Mycroft H

MaryAntoinette wrote: »

You enjoy arse rushing?

4th 12hr night shift. I'm broke.

barneygumble99

What Ive noticed a lot on roundabouts is where you have a 4 exit roundabout with 2 lanes on approach and exits all around and I'm entering it on the inside lane taking the 3 exit with my right indicator on. A car entering the roundabout on my first exit and taking their first exit will just keep going whilst I'm on it, we're in separate lanes, is that legal. It's happening a lot.

Del2005

C4Kid wrote: »

Two lanes, well they pulled out from the road I was yielding to (to my right) and as I was getting on the roundabout I saw him in the edge of my mirror as I was turning which then put him behind me.

They weren't speeding so in the eyes of the RSA they did nothing wrong! In the real world they did. Stupid thing is you'd be blamed, did you're dash cam show the roundabout was clear before you entered?

BrianD3

Debated in this thread. Some scary answers.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055065353

Many drivers - in fact I'd say most - think that they can bomb through roundabouts if they see nothing coming from their right and think that they have priority while approaching the roundabout.

When I am entering a roundabout I always check for vehicles approaching from my right even if I am going to be on the roundabout before them. The reason I do this is not because I think they have priority but because I don't want to die.

A problem arises at roundabouts where there is limited visibility. I know of one in particular where, before you enter the roundabout, you can really only see traffic that's already on the roundabout, you don't have a good view of the approach road to your right

Drivers approaching from your right think they can bomb through but you can only see them when you've already entered the roundabout. At this point, they are driving straight towards your drivers door at speed with no time to stop. A dangerous situation.

xband

The one that gets me more often is the huge % of Irish drivers who don't indicate on roundabouts (or anywhere).

You've also got a % who indicate too early.

I had a near miss in Cork with this:

Guy enters roundabout indicating left (I assumed he was taking first exit). He ploughed on at high speed to 3rd exit, left indicator on the whole time!

The more usual one is no indicators at all though.

johndaman66

newacc2015 wrote: »

I used to live beside a roundabout on a busy main Dublin road. DCC had to put a lights and bushes on it. Im not exaggerating, but every few months on a Saturday/Sunday morning before they put the lights/bushes. There would be a car parked in the middle of the roundabout. Drink drinkers never saw the roundabout approaching even with the yield light boxes and the arrow signs around it. They used to go through the roundabout literally and get stuck on the grass.

A different matter surely though? Would you not say it was the fact the drivers were drunk was the root cause of the accidents rather than the lack of lights and bushes? If doing a for/against analysis you could hardly argue that one of the merits of having the lights and bushes on the roundabout was they reduced such accidents when clearly them drivers should not have being on the road in the first place. If non drunk drivers had accidents on the roundabout for the same reason, well thats a different matter.

xband wrote: »

As far as she was concerned the "main road" through the roundabout had absolute priority and treated it as if it simply wasn't there.

I think it's largely about unbalanced junctions and where there's poor design (circle is too small to slow traffic adequately)

i find the same also, particularly on roads where traffic tends to move fast. If there is a small white circle painted in the middle of the road to represent the roundabout many would seem to ignore it as being a roundabout and treat it as a junction.


One of my own bugbears when it comes to roundabouts is poor lane discipline. For example if two lanes entering the roundabout, I'm on the inner lane to bear right and another driver on the outter lane to proceed straight on. We both go together and quite often that other driver on the left hand side of me will cut right into my lane mid way through the roundabout as if to almost take a straight line through the roundabout. That followed by lack of use of indicators or worse still incorrect use of indicators which is rife also.

RandomAccess

So it boils down to, must I yield to traffic on the roundabout (where driver has begun to cross their yield line or is on the roundabout), or also traffic approaching the roundabout who are moving fast.

I would say that while you don't have an obligation to yield to those who are merely approaching the roundabout, if they are driving in a reckless manner I would probably do so.

Its a good point, and one that affects articulated truck drivers quite often from what I have seen, as they often can through no fault of their own take a considerable time to move onto the roundabout.

Youngblood.III

pablo128 wrote: »

There is a method to the madness. It dates from the 50s I believe, though I'll have to go off and find the link. Basically they place road signs etc in a certain way to partly obscure the entry/exit on roundabouts to slow people down and make them look more closely.

I know the one in Galway....never that an issue with that one, but people come into it way too fast from the Oranmore side and end up in it.

C4Kid

xband wrote: »

Theres a roundabout on the Rochestown Road in Cork at the end of the exit from the N40.
I regularly find cars treat it as if it's not there. I was ON the roundabout and a car doing at least 70kmh in a 50 entered the roundabout (after I was well on it) and blasted the horn at me for being in the way!!

As far as she was concerned the "main road" through the roundabout had absolute priority and treated it as if it simply wasn't there.

I think it's largely about unbalanced junctions and where there's poor design (circle is too small to slow traffic adequately)

Funny you say it, this is the roundabout I was talking about, sounds like the same thing, I was on the N40 off ramp, looked right which was clear and as soon as I'm on the roundabout out comes said car straight through on the R610 so why slow down!

Mc Love

whats worse is the people that are in front of you and brake or stop for no reason, even though the approach from the right is clear and there's no traffic on the roundabout

If I've good visibility and can see there is nothing in the roundabout I'll go around it as fast as I can (great fun just at the point where you are losing traction), certainly won't stop anyway that's for sure if there is nothing on the roundabout. It's a yield sign not a stop sign.