Roundabout priority (with images 😁)

[candyflossbabe]

AIBU for arguing back with a man who tried to confront me (4 minutes later further on down the road btw) about my actions on this roundabout?

Roundabout near(ish) to me has line markings which I appreciate can cause confusion, as they do seem to contradict normal roundabout protocols of which lane to be in for the exiting past 12’o clock rules. However, my understanding is if you are leaving ‘your lane’ then the responsibility falls on you to ensure the lane you’re moving in to is clear. I am also aware roundabouts should allow for those coming off at the exit but I feel the lane markings here clearly show the lanes people should be in, as this wasn’t a case like most where the lines end and it becomes two into one merge type thing with a shared duty of care etc

Won’t go in to the details about the confrontation itself (unless people are really bored and want a story time 😂) but we had a minor near miss, he was effing and beeping then caught up with me further down the line and went off again before I unloaded my own verbal backlash.

So as not to mess people around being ‘ambiguous’ I’ll state I was in the blue car and he was in the red. There was a green car next to me.

The lane markings can’t be seen very well on google maps so I have made them clearer.

I suppose the AIBU isn’t really about my response (because tbh that’s my own business if i want to get in to it with another person*), but was I in the right with the driving as I do genuinely accept if I’m wrong then I’m wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️
I don’t think I’m the kind of person to get in to an accident for the sake of ‘being in the right’ but I suppose my carrying on without expecting him to want to cut across me wasn’t something I anticipated so probably could do with self reflection for future reference as the direction I took isn’t my normal route (I’m normally in the green car lane which is nice and simple 😂)

You are being unreasonable = You didn’t have right of way and were in the wrong
You are not being unreasonable = he was in the wrong

*I appreciate in advance anyone advising me/others not to get into disputes with men for risk of danger etc 🥰

I’m confused as to how people ended up in the three lanes.

If you are coming on, to go straight on, why are you not in the left hand lane, where the “Green” car seems to be?

As you are coming on - and there are 2 lanes for straight on, aren’t you meant to follow the markings into that left lane ?

just before where i have drawn the blue and green “cars” the lane splits

Where did the three cars enter the roundabout?

Just from that picture, it looks like the blue car should have been in green lane and red car in blue lane,

The road arrows indicates either of 2 lanes to go the major route
the red car should be continuing around the roundabout

some
people
are jerks

I’m still confused, where did the 3 cars come from, to end up in those lanes ?

I entered from the 5/6 o clock part and had a clear path past where the white car is and joined to blue lane, don’t know where red car came from tbh.
The two lanes on that exit subsequently split about 100m further up as well, green car lane almost doubles back on itself, blue car lane carries on and subsequent becomes another two lanes

You were in the right.

I think red car needs to move over to blue at some point whilst on the roundabout. Blue car can either stay in lane or move over to green if there's a space. Ultimately it's tricky and I would probably go slow and not blame anyone in particular if there was a accident. Accidents are mostly a combination of factors and so 'blame' isn't helpful anyway.

presume that all tried to go off at the same point... in which case:

Green & Blue acting normally
Red being an idiot

Highway Code is very clear that you need to allow for people in the wrong lanes on roundabouts - which does slightly say that your job is to be aware of all other road users and make allowances - but that has to be caveated with - where possible / sensible and the red car simply didn't get over, so if trying to go off at the same junction was being a bully.

extra credit to you for talking about priority and not rights 😀

It looks like you may have been on the inside lane at 5/6 o clock and red car was in outside lane?

I would have approached the roundabout from the outside lane tbh

So all three cars ended up exiting at the 2 o'clock exit? In which case the red car is definitely in the wrong.
If blue and red car both want the 5 o'clock exit then both need to be particularly careful as blue can do that from their lane and red needs to be aware of this.

I entered from 5/6ish position and moved towards white car position where the blue and green lane start/split.
I don’t know where red car came from tbh but I know they can’t have been in the outside lane really at any point as seems highly unlikely

Looking closely at the lane markings.. that does seem to be a particularly badly executed design. If two cars are approaching from the 7 o’clock entrance both wanting to leave at the 2 o’clock it’s going to cause problems because the r/h lane driver will naturally gravitate towards the red (wrong) lane.

Could you not have just drawn three continuous lines depicting everyone's journey? Because tbh you aren't very good at explaining what happened with words.

So green, blue and red were driving 3-abreast around the top of the roundabout? Hard to tell, but looks to me like it should be a two-lane roundabout. Do the white lines that you’ve drawn match the signage/road markings?

Which lane were you in as you approached the roundabout? The red car didn’t drop from the sky. It looks like it was in the right hand lane on the approach and you were on its left?

This explains it perfectly and so much better than me.

I initially thought this was going to be about a children's roundabout in a playground or at a fair. Not being a driver, I'm disappointed.

Carry on...

Hahaha I thought this was for a child's roundabout

I’m confused as to who was going where. On your photo green and blue should have exited at the first exit. The road lanes split after that exit so red would continue around and then move into the lane that continues around the roundabout. It would be foolish for blue to continue around beyond the split lane. If blue want to go all around the roundabout they should have moved into the third lane (where red is) from the outset.

You are in the right.

Any car in the red lane should be going round the roundabout to the right, not exiting.

I bet Mr blue car thought he could speed past you then just ran out of room and was mad about it - which translated into mad at you. He’s an entitled bully.

If you enter the roundabout from 3 o'clock there's only one lane (yellow Cross hatching faded to the left of it) until you reach 6 o'clock.
So a car entering at 3 and wanting to exit parallel to where they came in should move over to the blue lane after 6 o'clock.
A car entering at 6 could take the blue or green lane.
If there's an exit at 12 o'clock too, then move to green after passing it.

If all three were trying to get off at the same exit (2 oclock) then red car was in the wrong. His lane markings clearly show he needs to stay on the roundabout and use a different exit.

Red car needs to go back to training classes.

So you pulled over for the verbal backlash?
or you shouted from your car?

This roundabout is near me. I won't say where as you've blocked out the road names to presumably hide your location. Were you turning out of the supermarket? There are no road markings visible on the roundabout at all once you are on it. To be honest, I've never seen anyone treat that part of the roundabout as three lanes (although looking it the satellite image it possibly could be). You're completely right though that he should have checked to his left before trying to move over. As you are probably aware there are quite a few crazy, aggressive drivers in this city.