Does anyone else drive all around the roundabout?

[DanHumphreyIsA]

Instead of waiting in a long queue for the left/straight ahead exit?

Most roundabouts I use daily have heavier traffic in the left hand lane, (going to centre, retail parks, general main roads etc) and the right one normally has 2 or 3 cars waiting in comparison.

I generally just go into the right hand lane, then go all the way around and back to the exit I need, as its quicker.
Especially when it is a traffic light controlled one, the lights always let 3 cars through and change back.

A few people with me have thought it was strange, so it got me thinking if it was a driving 'taboo' (or unreasonable...)
Are you supposed to stick to the lane you need?

It isn't selfish.
What is selfish is not making proper use of the Road.
The 'pushing in' attitude means people happily sit for 10 plus minutes in a queue staring at an empty lane.
They don't just build extra lanes for a laugh, if it's only for right turns, guess what? They put a right turn only arrow on it.

Each retail park has it's own draw.....KFC-McDonalds-Costa... it's like knob head gauntlet around here at the weekend's.

I drive a fucked up old German Tank car.

This is an interesting discussion. My ex used to do this all the time and was utterly unapologetic about it. Then again he used to overtake long lines of waiting traffic then indicate to pull back in near the front until someone gave in and let him in again (he had a bloke get out of his car and rage at him, terrifying our toddler, for that once). His attitude was essentially I'm not waiting with all the sheep when there's a way around it - if people then let me back in again more fool them. He had people giving him the finger, yelling at him or occasionally being accosted in car parks by people yelling about his driving. This was viewed as totally being worth the many hours shaved off his travel time by behaving like this.

I've only ever done this by accident when I've been lost then realised I actually needed the first exit after all, and I cringed all the way round .

It's a cultural thing though I suppose. In many countries this, along with no one ever queueing, would be perfectly fine. It really does upset the British sense of queueing and fair play though, as seen on this thread.

I've done it when I've realised a bit late on that I'm in the wrong lane as it causes less disruption than jamming up a lane waiting for someone to let you in.

Generally I wouldn't as once you're on the roundabout, you then have priority which would deny other road users the opportunity to get on, thus potentially delaying more people.

I wonder if OP is thinking of a signalised roundabout servicing a retail park, close to a major dual carriageway and large hospital where the roundabout was "upgraded" due to a new housing development. If it is that one, the main problem is a poor layout within the retail park combined with delays on the nearby roads which gridlocks it easily. I once arrived home 45 minutes after DH purely because I was parked in a different area of the carpark! (I'd gone from home in one part of the city, he'd gone from work after a half day in a different part of the city)

Ive done that for years.

Yep!!!!
Especially at one roundabout that can be really busy when there's problems on motorway. Everyone comes off motorway and turns right at roundabout making it really difficult if you're coming from opposite direction. Most people are in inside lane going straight on because outside lane play roundabout is queued. I want to go left so go right round roundabout.

Not sure how that's twattish?

@somewhat yes that does sound like the one I'm talking about!
That's funny, I bet you felt worlds apart, not parking bays apart

I never experienced many issues with it before or after the traffic lights, apart from general rush hour and around Christmas though. When the traffic lights were installed I remember thinking I'll just nip and get some fuel, which took over an hour, as shoppers were waiting to get out of the carpark!

In all my years of driving I never thought of doing this! And have never noticed it being done!

I think it's shit.

I too notice when people do this & think twat, it's not a clever use of the roundabout, it just indicates that you feel superior to those of us who wait in the correct lane.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell everyone the roundabout secret and spoil it for all us who currently do.

Mnhq can we get this thread deleted before everyone realises what a good idea it is and it's no longer works because every left lane Muppet starts doing it?

In general it is a twatty thing to do because not only are you pushing in front of people in the queue on your road, you're also taking up a space that cars from other roads could have used. If a significant number of people did it then it would make the roundabout much less efficient.

Only exception I can think is if the left hand lane is actually blocked by traffic turning left (i.e. queuing from the exiting road around the roundabout), but even then surely it is easier to simply change lanes to go straight on - you wouldn't be cutting in on anyone if the left hand lane is blocked.

It's queue jumping - just as twatty as pushing in except you don't have the balls to be honest about your twatty-ness

I have done this... In my defence only when I was desperate for a loo (flooding.. Grim gynae issues)-and yes I felt I deserved to get to a loo quickly .

Yes it is a more subtle queue jumping...

Colleague I was with was appalled at my faux pas... The same colleague who boasted earlier about how she had reversed into someone else's car and didnt leave a note 'as no one saw me, and there were no cctv'... This she deemed morally ok!

Yes I do it all the time especially when there has been a person right up my backside to lose them

I do this, there's a roundabout near me which is a bugger to get onto, normally 30 cars in the left lane and the right lane is empty.

always go up the left hand lane of the traffic, turn left and then all the way round the mini roundabout and back up the road. It does sometimes confuse people on the mini rounabout but I just make out like I'm lost

I'm fairly sure the Highway Code says that you shouldn't do this on mini roundabouts so I wouldn't do it on a mini one.

You are not helping the traffic control you are just annoying. Believe it or not, roads are monitored on and off for years because situations/patterns change which affect various roads and when a problem continues they try to act on it to improve matters for everyone. It's a bit like housework, you do cleaning that no-one notices until you stop doing it don't you?

I've done this. I'll also turn left and drive a little way to go around a roundabout rather than waiting ages to turn right into heavy traffic.

I'd worry that someone may hit me by accident

@woodhill how would this increase a risk of accident? As long as I'm at a safe speed, indicating which way I'm going etc.

If you're going straight over "pushing in" if done considerately (ie give way to a car being legit and the roundabout is flowing) improves congestion. If you go right the way round you're adding to the number of vehicles the queue has to give way to.