Left turn only
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 1:40 am
I'm not a learner driver. I've been driving about 4 years and worked as a supermarket delivery driver last year.
But I seem to have real problems understanding/dealing with roundabouts. I find all the time that I approach roundabouts feeling confident based on the signs and markings that I understand the correct lane discipline for navigating it, but then find that the rest (or at least some!) of the traffic seems to do something completely unexpected.
Today I wanted to take the second exit on this roundabout towards Easton: http://goo.gl/maps/X2uSm
The sign seems to indicate the first lane is LEFT ONLY. Therefore I joined the second lane going into the roundabout with the intention of moving towards the first of the three roundabout lanes at the next set of lights (i.e just past the first exit). However ALL of the 5 or 6 cars in the left lane continued past the first exit and remained in the first lane. This made me a bit confused and disorientated and as a result I ended up being stuck in the 2nd lane forcing me onto the M32 motorway instead of where I wanted to go.
Looking back on this using google maps I am now even more confused as the sign seems totally unequivocal that the first lane is only for going left. I feel like the rest of the traffic was totally wrong but at the same time the fact that every single one of the vehicles in the left lane went straight on seems to indicate that I have misunderstood the sign somehow.
Would really appreciate some opinions on this.
But I seem to have real problems understanding/dealing with roundabouts. I find all the time that I approach roundabouts feeling confident based on the signs and markings that I understand the correct lane discipline for navigating it, but then find that the rest (or at least some!) of the traffic seems to do something completely unexpected.
Today I wanted to take the second exit on this roundabout towards Easton: http://goo.gl/maps/X2uSm
The sign seems to indicate the first lane is LEFT ONLY. Therefore I joined the second lane going into the roundabout with the intention of moving towards the first of the three roundabout lanes at the next set of lights (i.e just past the first exit). However ALL of the 5 or 6 cars in the left lane continued past the first exit and remained in the first lane. This made me a bit confused and disorientated and as a result I ended up being stuck in the 2nd lane forcing me onto the M32 motorway instead of where I wanted to go.
Looking back on this using google maps I am now even more confused as the sign seems totally unequivocal that the first lane is only for going left. I feel like the rest of the traffic was totally wrong but at the same time the fact that every single one of the vehicles in the left lane went straight on seems to indicate that I have misunderstood the sign somehow.
Would really appreciate some opinions on this.