Who's being U here? Driving question.

[WelshMoth]

Everyday I navigate a small roundabout to get onto DC's school road. It has 4 roads running onto it and is just big enough to be a 2 lane roundabout.

For the 3rd time since school restarted just last week, I've had a fist shaken at me (hairy arsed lorry driver), head shaken and shouting at me (hairy arsed van driver) and today a middle finger accompanied by yelling (stroppy blonde woman in shiny car). Sorry for the labels - helps me remember.

Anyhow, I always use the left lane to go straight on, aka the 2nd exit off the roundabout. Those going to the right, or doubling back onto the road they came from, take the right lane.

I'm assuming these 'pissed off drivers' think I'm turning left into the road they are waiting to pull out of, so make to pull out and then have to jam on as I'm actually going straight on.

Am I following the Highway code here? As far as I'm concerned, I think I am. I'm getting cheesed off for getting yelled at. I can hardly indicate to go straight on can I, so why the grief?

I await the MN jury.

I'm a driving instructor, and at a roundabout you can go straight on in either left or right lanes, but it is generally the left lane unless told otherwise by road markings or signs! You should signal left after you pass the last exit before the one you're leaving.

So the idiots who shake their fists and are rude are completely wrong and because you aren't signalling and are in the left lane then they should assume you're going straight on!

HTH

Op you are right, they are wrong. Just acknowledge their gestures to you with a wave and a friendly smile

YANBU. I was taught that right lane was only for turning right! People should check indicators.

Surely the fundamental rule of a roundabout is that the vehicles already ON the roundabout have right of way; The "hairy-arsed" mob are in the wrong.

If you were going to turn left, you would be indicating left, wouldn't you?

Blimey there is an awful lot of conflicting information..
Personally I turn left in the left lane if straight on I stay in the left lane but might use the right if there are two lanes ahead if its a large roundabout I might just indicate too.
No wonder we have so much road rage.

People should also use indicators more!

I drive 12 miles of country lanes to work, and sometimes don't see a single person indicating. They seem to think that the direction the car is facing is sufficient. So if they are pointing slightly left, that of course means they will turn left don't you know cos they live here!

topnob - I was taught to use gears to slow - I'm 51. But I'm pretty sure I heard that nowadays this is not recommended in normal conditions in modern cars.

My brake discs were worn down and i had to get to the garage with using my brakes as little as possible, so changing the gears, lets just say i had mild whiplash by the time i got there lol.

As a cyclist it drives me fecking nits how few drivers bother to indicate too.

nuts nuts not nits the nit are fine.

OP - you are in the right :)

(regardless of the lane issue, you are on the roundabout, they are not, you have the right of way).

I drive an automatic, I don't think i can slow down with just gears, can I? I mean I can take my foot off the pedal which will eventually let the car slow but I need to use the brakes normally.
(am a litt PMSL at the thought that using brakes to slow a car is stupid though!).
We have fuel-usage thingies in the dashboard so we have altered our driving a bit to up the usage numbers so that does tend to mean foot off the pedal a bit earlier to sort of 'coast' a bit (car is still in gear so not coasting for real).

I have a similar Q to the OP if the OP doesn't mind me hijacking for a bit?

I do a roundabout like this everyday but mine has arrows on a sign prior to it telling you which lane (LH for L & straight on, R for R) and I still get abuse from frigging idiot car users who are themselves not paying attention to either the road priorities or my indicators. Some people are idiots unfortunately the best thing is to just ignore them and make sure you are well clear of their ignorant driving style as much as possible.

Brakes are for braking, there is no need to use gears to slow the car, it is wasteful and unnecessary.

Brake pads are cheaper than clutches.

Oh and just to confuse things a roundabout near us has recently changed from no markings on the entry road (2 lanes) to Left Turn Only from the left hand lane. It's really close to us so I'm there all the time & know what I'm doing but lots of people don't and things go slightly wrong often. Luckily no accidents, yet.

Either lane on entry (small roundabout usually LH lane)
Indicate just before you are exiting

It's always been like this forever in time since in passed my test

YANBU. They should not pull out, stupid idiots. If you were turning left, you would be indicating.

YANBU

The problem is the ignorant bastards people who turn left but don't indicate left, loads of people do this and it means no indication isn't automatically assumed to mean straight on anymore.

It's a personal pet hate of mine, people who don't indicate properly at roundabouts should be banned from driving. I'm sure it happens more often than it used to as well.

OP when you go straight on, do you leave sufficient space on your right for your neighbouring car to also go straight on? Maybe you are "cutting the corner" and squeezing out the other drivers?

Yep, always. If I go straight on from a roundabout, I stick to lanes like my life depends on it. However, in this case, the roads coming off this roundabout in question are single carriageways, so I follow the curve of the roundabout, allowing for the right-laners to go on their way, but when I take the exit, the roads all mine (apart from on-coming traffic, of course).

Can you link to a street view of the junction?

'I have found a simple hand gesture which communicates well but it does tend to offend.'

OP, obviously you are correct, but get in touch with your local council (or whoever does roads, I dunno?) and tell them to paint a line on the road. There's a turn near us that had loads of minor accidents, people getting angry with each other, and all solved just by painting a little sign on the road.

FWIW, some people round here honk at you simply because you are not moving at the super-speed at which they wanted to travel, and you had the audacity to be on the road at the same time as them. Those people will continue to honk at you, and all you can do is hope their grimy white vans break down somewhere nasty.

I have a pet hate of roundabouts where the left lane is kept only for turning left with arrows on the ground showing this (and only two lanes leading into the roundabout).

The people who follow the rule no longer think they have to indicate left. But then those that ignore the rule go straight on in the left-hand lane without indicating as usual. If you're in the next bit waiting to get onto the roundabout, you can't tell them apart.

Brakes are for braking...yes obviously but gears are for slowing down and speeding up !

Automatics don't count obviously as they do the gears for you.

YANBU.

You need one of these for the idiots that think you are

www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Scrolling-Message-Sign-Light/dp/B0036SOPD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326794619&sr=8-1

The highway code text does not really explain it very well, if at all, but the picture speaks a thousand words. OP -you are correct.

topknob... isn't it more that gears are for getting an engine speed suitable for the road speed? If you change down and the road speed is too fast then the engine will have a braking effect. This used to be a good idea when brakes weren't very good (and still is useful to know in some circumstances) but now it is reckoned better to primarily brake with the brakes, adjusting gear as apt for the speed as you slow.

The best way, when conditions allow, is to anticipate conditions and slow by taking your foot off the accelerator and letting friction do the job (gearing down as needed as you lose speed) - I've forgotten who it was who started talking about not braking but she's right, this is the most energy-efficient way.