Mini roundabout

[japitts]

Firstly lets set the scene - https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=51.532889 ... 8&t=m&z=17 is the location, the junction between St Briavels Drive & Sundridge Park, two fairly "main" roads in Yate town.

We live at the end of St Briavels Drive, 3 or 4 "pairs of houses" down from the roundabout so if you turn into St Briavels from Sundridge, we are a couple of hundred yards down. Occasionally I will use the roundabout as a turning point, but there've been a couple of incidents recently that have set me thinking.

1: Doing the U-turn manouvre, indicating right and another vehicle approached from the direction of Rodford Way at speed. I'd guess 20 or so mph, certainly reasonable for "straight line" but certainly excessive for dealing with any hazard. You can probably see where this is going.. he may have been assuming I was turning right and so carried on "as if" I wasn't there. I'd seen him coming and was prepared, but it took a horn toot to avoid the inevitable. He didn't like it one little bit, and if I hadn't entered "how to deal with road rage" mode, it could have turned quite nasty.

2: A couple of weeks ago, exactly the same thing but this time the other driver was in no mood to stop and just returned the horn favour, forcing me into stopping dead on the roundabout or have an insurance claim on my hands.

My thoughts are this... if I'm approaching from the south, I'm always aware of any activity on this roundabout and back off accordingly. Many drivers around here do treat St Briavels Drive as a bit of a local racetrack, but is it confusing to be indicating right? Or if indicating right, do I need to assume that drivers from said right-hand-turning are not going to be giving way? Most people do back-off, but it's the minority.. so am I dealing with this the best way?

Thoughts and suggestions most welcome

[MGF]

When doing a U-turn on a mini-roundabout I always plan to stop at the third exit until I am sure the traffic emerging from the exit has given way.

[Gareth]

First off, the Highway Code says "Avoid making U-turns at mini-roundabouts. Beware of others doing this." [188]

if I'm approaching from the south, I'm always aware of any activity on this roundabout and back off accordingly.

Just because you are prepared for this kind of manoeuvre you shouldn't necessarily expect others to be, so your approach should take this into account.

is it confusing to be indicating right?

No, but ...

if indicating right, do I need to assume that drivers from said right-hand-turning are not going to be giving way?

I think you should be aware that they probably won't be expecting what you are intending, and therefore you need to find an alternative way to manage the situation.

so am I dealing with this the best way?

I can think of two actions that might make this less hazardous, either of which should help on their own but together might be best.

Ideally you wait until you can't see a vehicle coming from the right, but if you can't because you are delaying vehicles behind then you should make sure you wait for a larger than normal gap, so that the driver of the vehicle coming from the right has more time to work out what is happening.

Next you want to make sure that said driver realises something is wrong and slows accordingly. If possible bias your entry into the junction such that you keep further left to try to make the exit path as close to the blob of paint as possible, rather than the other way around if you see what I mean. The less you appear to be taking a normal line for turning right, the more likely it is that the approaching driver will be uncertain about your intentions.

[Ralge]

I deal with this by indicating right AND by reinforcing this signal to those ahead and behind with my right arm out of the window ... as well as being wary of others ignoring both signals.

[fungus]

We have a mini roundabout here in Corfe Mullen that is used for U turning, (something I do myself), and I would agree with Gareth that if making a U turn, take an entry more to the left than usual for a normal right turn, keep the speed well down, and exit nearer the white blob. In that way you are probably giving a less positive right turn signal, in that the position is not what another driver would expect for a normal right turn, and the slow speed should give you time to stop if the other driver misreads your intentions.

If I'm in any doubt about a drivers intention, I try to look and see where they are looking if possible. If they are exiting the roundabout they should be looking into their exit road.