Safe Speed Forums

Im assuming this forum is for near miss accidents.

Coming up to a mini roundabout to drive straight on I almost collided with a car approaching the roundabout from directly the other side. He was going to turn right. I assumed he would drive round the paint circle but instead he just cut across and nearly into the side of me. As we had both stopped at this point I could see him hurling abuse at me and making wild movements of his arms to show me how I should have given way to him. Having thought about it I think I was right and he was at fault. It has made moere wary of mini roundabouts however.

I could be wrong here but the point of the 'mini' roundabout is to enforce roundabout behaviour i.e priority to the right rather than force people to go round it as such.

so we all need to be wary of vehicles driving straight accross but I don't think they're acting illegally.

not quite sure what to make of your situation, the problem is that they're so small its not always obvious who has the right of way!

There is a particularly dangerous mini-roundabout at which I turn right on my way to work. I am always EXTREMELY CAREFUL at this junction as many people have no idea of giving way if they want to go straight over.

In reality, there should have been traffic lights at this junction as the sight lines are very poor and it is just under a low railway bridge but it is cheaper to paint a circle on the road than do something safe.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

depends how big the mini-roundabout was and who entered it first, although I frequently slice across the things I do it with caution...

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

The highway code doesn't see it like that though http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/17.htm I mean I understand where your coming from, it is dangerous to assume that people will go completely around the markings since a lot will cut accross. However, that doesn't mean to say that it is right. Often at very busy mini-roundabouts you need to take a smaller gap then perhaps you would normally, otherwise you'll never pull out.

It happened to me once, only I'd already got half-way across before the opposite car had even reached the give way line and cut accross at such an angle that he never actually touched the roundabout markings and in fact was a good metre from it on the opposite side, effectively going the wrong way round.

There goes that big red MUST again.

There does seem to be an urban myth though that mini roundabouts don't count as real roundabouts and any old route is accepatble, including completely the wrong side of the circle.

What I can't understand is why fergl100 wasn't expecting someone to A) cut across and B) assume they have right of way. Unless you don't come across mini roundabouts very often.

I find the best approach is to slow right down, be prepared to stop, be prepared for idiots but not approach so slow that someone will misinterpret your actions as giving way.

I didn't expect someone to cut across, because I was approaching the mini roundabout as if it was a normal roundabout, as the highway code says above.

The trouble is, if you are turning right, the initial movement to the left sends a very confusing signal to other drivers. It is such a powerful signal that it even over-rides indicators, IMO. I think when turning right it is safer to just go across the circle.

It all depends on the layout of the roundabout, but it's possible on some to angle your approach so that there is no obvious left movement, the only thing is going a little bit deeper in order to clear the O/S/R wheel. Fair enough a bit of rear wheel going over the roundabout is not the end of the world, but some effort to go round it the right way should be attempted where possible. I find it uncomftable not to if it's a raised mini-roundabout.

I'm ashamed to advise that, unless the hump is gross and liable to cause potential steering or tyre wear if I hit it, I tend to take a "shortcut" on these things. Where the hump is so large that it is probable it will cause damage, I ... often wrongside them.

Against the highway code - yes.

Is it "failure to comply with a traffic sign" and could I actually be prosecuted? I don't do it for gain, more for assertiveness - and I am ALWAYS prepared to change tack if anyone comes out when they shouldn't.

20 years or so ago I damaged a car in a mini roundabout incident.

See: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17#17

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I think this is just an extreme version of my incident. The only difference being my guy approached from straight ahead whereas your guy came from the left.

i regularly go through two mini roundabouts in bispham blackpool delivering and almost everytime someone will pull out in front me as i swing left to go right to get the trailer round, and at the second one i do a uturn to reverse into the depot i have just passed, so im not reversing in blind side,
one morning a woman with a baby in the back of the car ignored my signal pulled infront of me then stalled i stopped (only just) and she gave me a mouthful for driving like an idiot.

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Im difficult to spot in this 44foot truck sorry i must have it in cloak mode again

Confusing only because it is not the norm.

If most drivers went around the dot then everyone would be used to it.

Do we change the rules so the norm is acceptable? Doesn't that make mini roundabouts somewhat pointless?

I'm going to continue going around and keeping an eye out for the idiots.

Also, won't going round the 'bout increase throughput on busy ones? I accept that most minis only deal with low volumes of traffic but some are used at busy crossroads. By going round you can have two vehicles on the roundabout and it also means that the cars exiting the roundabout provide a much better shield to allow other cars out. Of course it depends on the layout as well.

You might know the one(amongst others) I'm thinking of Homer - it's at Greetland next to the canal, just of the A629 and controls movements between Greetland, Sowerby Bridge, Huddersfield and Halifax. At rush hour it can be very busy!

May be we should campain for the total removal of these dangerous road features, after we win the camera campain? : D

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Brian of Plymouth
When will the government realise , that to err is only human, to be perfect is to be GOD.

My neck of the woods some have been removed - think i saw a newspaper report on one as nearly causing accidents and another where residents complained that it was unsafe (both on T junctions ) - the attitude taken(according to press) was that there was that much confusion over right of way that the old give way on each was safer .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I call them Roundovers
Where safe, I drive over them at a sensible pace. I hate them and speed humps. My hate for them is not helped by the fact that I have pins in my elbow after falling off a ladder and it can hurt.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

quote="highway code"]164: Mini-roundabouts Beware of vehicles making U-turns.
] [/quote]



Still trying to work out what people see wrong with using a Mini roundabout as a "U" turning point as you would with a normal roundabout.
Near me there is a T junction .To the left is a hump backed canal bridge over which traffic moves - and vision is PARTIALLY obscurred , to right is a long straight with another T junction joining from right. At busy times it can be a long wait or dangerous to try and turn right , so i sometimes turn left go down the hill and use the mini roundabout -- problem is ,eVen indicating right all way round some idiot "assumes" that you're going to take the 3rd exit (of 4) (ie not go all way round)and the u turn has to be completed with this in mind ( i.e be extra prepared for idiot to pull out in front) even though with a car there is enough room not to have to swing right first.
I have come to the conclusion that is a visual thing - you approach a mini roundabout and person waiting on left "assumes " that you will exit on one of the other exits .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I do like mini roundabouts, but I think some common sense should be used in each situation as to whether to go over the middle or not (if they are painted).

On one like this, if I were approaching from below there's no way I would go all the way round it to turn right. Especially if someone was waiting on the left.