Roundabout question

Scenario:

- You're waiting to enter into a roundabout, you want to turn left/straight ahead, so you're in the left hand lane on approach

- This roundabout is wide enough for two lanes of traffic. Because you want to turn left or go straight ahead (2nd exit), you will be on the outside lane of the roundabout

- A car on the roundabout is approaching from your right hand side in the lane closest to the centre (inside lane). This car has no indication lights on.

During the test, should you proceed to enter the roundabout anyway? Or do you wait until that car (on the inside lane) has driven passed you?

Reply 1

hello654321

wait till they pass, i think you make sure your the whole area infront of you is clear anyway even if they dont have any indicators on

Reply 2

lunnndoner

Original post by hello654321

wait till they pass, i think you make sure your the whole area infront of you is clear anyway even if they dont have any indicators on

So you would wait for a sufficient gap in all the lanes of the roundabout before you enter?

Reply 3

Nice2KnoU

In my opinion, if there is any car on your side of the roundabout or is very close to coming onto the roundabout from a junction on the right, it's not safe to go until they have gone, since they could increase their speed all of a sudden and hit you if you pull into it.
I like to wait for it to be completely clear to my right (and infront ofc) on the roundabout before I go, that's how I did it in my test and I had no issues at all, it's a safe tactic to ensure I don't cut anyone up or cause an accident.

If you think that it might cause an accident, it more than likely does.

Reply 4

IWMTom

Original post by lunnndoner

You've got inside and outside lanes completely mixed up, there - at least for the UK, anyway.

The inside lane is the lane furthest to the side of the road that you drive on - in the UK, the inside lane is the leftmost lane as we drive on the left, in America this is reversed - they drive on the right, and as such, the inside lane is the rightmost lane.

Reply 5

IrrationalRoot

I was wondering about this situation recently too. I eventually realised that you should always let the car pass, even if it's in the inside lane and you're only using the outside. Reason is that the car on the inside lane could leave the roundabout at any point and so needs room to move to the left (outside) lane to exit. So you need to stay back and only join the roundabout behind it (in your lane).

Reply 6

Sweyn Forkbeard

If a car is not indicating, look at the wheels to figure out where the driver is intending to go.

However while you're learning I would be more cautious and go when it's clear. After all there's always a risk that a driver has made a mistake and is in the wrong lane, and then cuts across lanes to get to their exit.

Reply 7

Welshstig

When you do move, be a bit swift, especially for a busy roundabout.

Reply 8

cherryred90s

Original post by lunnndoner

If in doubt, wait.

Reply 9

allyderby

Original post by lunnndoner

Wait for the car to pass. Better to be safe than sorry- especially in a test situation :smile:

The examiner would notice that you were just being safe by avoiding a driver not being clear about where they're going. That's what i would do anyway :smile: