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.

No worries - it was an unclear post. I just meant it was the obvious situation I could think of where you do use your gears a bit differently.

All you using brakes to slow down rather than the gears..seriously the way we were taught is not wrong. Gears aren't for slowing down after you brake though ! If you want a car which slows down by braking alone get a automatic ! They are for slowing the car down by going through the gear box..that is what they are for and in any modern car will not 'shag' the gearbox.

an automatic

topknob

Read my link. It's useful.

No, topknob - gears are not for slowing down a car. They are for getting appropriate engine revs for a given road speed. They have a braking effect but its not what they are for.

From Pendeen's link:

Gear changes are made when power is needed to keep the car moving. This means that if you are stopping, you don't need to change gear until after you have stopped. This is the preferred method of the UK Driving Standards Agency and all advanced driving organisations.

I agree that one shouldn't rely on the gears/clutch to slow down but I am surprised at the recommendation to stop and then change gear.

I thought the recommended approach was to use the brakes to slow down but to change down at the same time so that you're always in the appropriate gear for the road speed. After all, if whatever you are stopping for (eg traffic light) changes before you've stopped, you don't want to find yourself in fourth gear at 5mph.

As i said earlier my instructor always said if slowing (for traffic lights, a junction, roundabout etc) then slow down, go into 2nd then if its clear you can go if not, its not such a big leap 2nd to 1st than say 4th to 1st. If its a STOP sign then just go straight into 1st (after slowing) as you will need to stop (obviously)

I wonder if this part is relevant This is the preferred method of the UK Driving Standards Agency and all advanced driving organisations. I can't help thinking things have changed alot.

YANBU. You are RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT. I mean correct, not turning right.

If you enter the roundabout on a two lane road and there are no signs or road markings to indicate otherwise, the rules are: left hand lane if you are taking 1st exit, indicating left, and right hand lane if taking the final exit, indicating right. To take the second exit to go straight on, as in your case, you take the left hand lane without indicating, and indicate before your exit. Some people (DH) seem to think that if that middle exit is further than 180 degrees round then you should take right hand lane, but I know he is wrong, I just can't find my old highway code to prove it.

Most of the time this is the straightforward situation but when there are more exits, like here, then there is a decision to be made when exiting on the 3rd but not final exit - I think then it is ok to choose your lane and not indicate until before the exit. But anyway, that is not the issue here.

These people shouldn't have given you abuse. As Whatmeworry said, they are probably locals who have decided that this roundabout is an exception to the rules. Be stubborn and know you are right. It's a good feeling.

There is also the traffic flow to consider. Just after passing my test I got stuck at a motorway roundabout because while the lane markings didnt insist that you go left from the left hand lane it was impossible to do anything else as it was the majority flow for the first 2 lanes (as it was heading to the M1). This lead to my first and somewhat unexpected attempt at motorway driving....

So if almost everyone is going left from the left hand lane then you might need to reconsider your position (not because you are wrong but because it will be safer to do what everyone else does).

My pet roundabout hate is a local roundabout with 4 exits one of which is essentially a one way (off) and so people are only very rarely entering from that direction. This makes people coming from the next entrance along think they can approach at 30 mph without looking. The problem being that anyone on the roundabout has priority over nob ends coming from this preferred entrance, but they forget that and wave at you if they have to touch the brakes even if you got on the roundabout long before them. Its hard to get out of the way fast enough because you are accelerating from stopped and they are cruising by as they think they dont need to look. Every so often a bus appears from the one way bit and scares the shit out of them.

Whenever anyone driving advocates ".. Be stubborn and know you are right. It's a good feeling .." you know there is an accident just begging to happen.

yanbu