RABs, Lanes, Compliance...

[TR4ffic]

On my commute home the other day out of Northampton (this is my alternative route when conditions on the M1 make it a place to avoid which, thankfully, I haven't had to use that often) came up to this RAB wanting to go straight on.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.2470688,-0.9233461,3a,37.5y,302.17h,88.87t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sVCBr3lFWJvJ-nmN0TXtJUg!2e0

Conditions were similar to the picture but with a longer queue in the RH lane - very little or nothing in the LH lane. Being a good boy, I complied with the sign and paint and waited my turn in the RH lane. Now, the RH lane takes longer to clear/progress because (I think) drivers can't take full advantage of or don't have time to assess gaps to the right. Anyway, a car comes up the LH lane to the RAB into pole position, takes advantage of a gap that the driver to his right can't, enters the RAB and turns right!

My initial thought was, Impatient cheeky git! but, having thought about it, has he actually committed an offence?

The sign on the lamppost for the RAB saying which lane is which is for information only - Correct? ...and the white painted arrows on the road are info only as no 'Left Turn Only' has been added to the LH lane.

Cheeky, yes. Against the norms of communal living and all getting along together? Morally reprehensible? Just not cricket.!? Illegal?

I'll still wait my turn in the RH lane, I'm far too nice...

[sussex2]

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.84290 ... rPMv1g!2e0

Above is another one and if the right lane is occupied by slow moving vehicles it may be more expeditious.

But here is the answer to your question:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 191955.pdf

See page 70 - It may not be cricket etc etc but the root cause is inept use of road space and not the actual markings themsevles. This is particularly true of the A27 which gets even more inept as you advance into vested interest territory.

[fungus]

Similarly this roundabout on the A348 at Bear Cross.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.76915 ... o8zhYw!2e0

At busy times, it's not uncommon to see drivers use the right hand lane when the left hand lane is queing, to turn left by going 450 degrees, or ahead by going 540 degrees.

[Ancient]

Is that similar though? In the case of using the RH lane to go left etc by circulating the RAB, drivers are relying on the 'give way to the right' rule of roundabouts; this is surely comparable to going around again (rather than stopping in the middle of a RAB) if someone undertakes and causes you to take evasive action instead of your required exit.

In the OP's case in contrast, drivers in the LH lane are necessarily forcing drivers to their right to give way: This is contrary to the rules for RABs. IMO these drivers are contravening rules 184 and 185 of the HC

184
On approaching a roundabout take notice and act on all the information available to you, including traffic signs, traffic lights and lane markings which direct you into the correct lane. You should
[...]
get into the correct lane
[... etc]

185

When reaching the roundabout you should

give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights
[...etc]

No 'MUST/MUST NOT' in sight but failure to comply " may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under the Traffic Acts ... to establish liability.", so rather more than just 'not cricket'.

[TR4ffic]

To clarify, the driver in the LH lane in no way forced his way or hindered traffic in the RH lane nor traffic that had priority on the RAB - from his position further to the left, he was able to take advantage of a gap that the driver in the RH lane didn't feel able to take.

Fungus' example is not really similar where drivers are using a RH lane to make an initial right turn but continue all the way around the RAB - considered cheeky by some but compliant with the signs/paint.

[Ancient]

My mistake, I thought that drivers in the LH lane would need to move in front of drivers in the RH lane in order to move right (single lane RAB). If I were in the RH lane with a one lane RAB ahead and drivers from LH 'left turn' lane moving in front of me, I may be discouraged from taking advantage of gaps. But on looking at the location again, that RAB is actually two lanes wide with no dedicated space for left turns So why the dedicated L only lane on approach?

[Ancient]

So why the dedicated L only lane on approach?

Probably because the straight ahead exit is single lane, so the planners are trying to avoid the 2 into 1 scenario which results without such markings.

But why not then do it properly, with TRO, dedicated lanes and correct signage?

Edit to add: Looking at it again, since the first exit has two lanes, they could even make the left turn lane protected through the RAB as well as left turn only, solid white line.

[onlinegenie]

Cheeky, yes. Against the norms of communal living and all getting along together? Morally reprehensible? Just not cricket.!? Illegal?

Or a mistake? Driver on that stretch of road for the first time suddenly thinks "Oh sh!t! I'm in the wrong lane!". Driver to his right doesn't move into an available gap, so the driver in the wrong lane takes advantage. I always give the miscreant the benefit of the doubt in a case like this. Especially as my SatNav gives me such helpful instructions as "Enter the roundabout" without giving me a clue as to which lane to use.

[TR4ffic]

Cheeky, yes. Against the norms of communal living and all getting along together? Morally reprehensible? Just not cricket.!? Illegal?

Or a mistake? Driver on that stretch of road for the first time suddenly thinks "Oh sh!t! I'm in the wrong lane!". Driver to his right doesn't move into an available gap, so the driver in the wrong lane takes advantage. I always give the miscreant the benefit of the doubt in a case like this. Especially as my SatNav gives me such helpful instructions as "Enter the roundabout" without giving me a clue as to which lane to use.

I'm not sure, whether its a road he was familiar with or not, why he was approaching the RAB in the LH lane if intending to turn right..!

[fungus]

Cheeky, yes. Against the norms of communal living and all getting along together? Morally reprehensible? Just not cricket.!? Illegal?

Or a mistake? Driver on that stretch of road for the first time suddenly thinks "Oh sh!t! I'm in the wrong lane!". Driver to his right doesn't move into an available gap, so the driver in the wrong lane takes advantage. I always give the miscreant the benefit of the doubt in a case like this. Especially as my SatNav gives me such helpful instructions as "Enter the roundabout" without giving me a clue as to which lane to use.

To be honest, I have done it myself in Milton Keynes, but unlike the drivers in my example, this was a genuine mistake. I was overtaking slower moving traffic in the left hand lane when I noticed a roundabout sign ahead. By this time traffic in the left hand lane was stationary, and by the time I could read the directions, (I needed to take the first exit), it was too late to make a lane change, so I signalled right and went 450 degrees. In the example I gave, it is a blatant attempt to avoid queueing. The drivers that do it are local. I once had a pupil who did this on his test bacause he messed up. He was failed for it.

[Slink_Pink]

The drivers that do it are local. I once had a pupil who did this on his test bacause he messed up. He was failed for it.

Did they fail because of this use of the RAB or was it for other reasons?

[fungus]

The drivers that do it are local. I once had a pupil who did this on his test bacause he messed up. He was failed for it.

Did they fail because of this use of the RAB or was it for other reasons?

It was a few years ago now, and I did not take this pupil for his test as I was laid up with back trouble, so my wife, who is not an ADI took him, (free lesson there). But IIRC, the examiner said that he should have taken the third exit because what he did could annoy other drivers, and in the examiners opinion he was not correctly following the road markings. When I saw him next, he showed me the examiners DL25 showing a serious error under the heading" Respond correctly to road signs and markings."

[Slink_Pink]

The drivers that do it are local. I once had a pupil who did this on his test bacause he messed up. He was failed for it.

Did they fail because of this use of the RAB or was it for other reasons?

Seems a little harsh - I accept the point about annoying other drivers - but one can't always wait about all day while others dither and, in my mind, it's within the rules provided for operation of roundabouts.