Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil Chapin
I've only lived here a year and a half so far, but it seems to me that the problem with the roundabouts is that if you're in the inside lane, you almost always have to cross the outside lane to get to an exit. I understand the business about choosing lanes according to where you're going to exit, but if you're going "straight through" in the outside lane and the guy who is in the inside lane is going straight through - but he got into the roundabout one entrance before you did, so he's getting off one exit before you - then he's going to cross in front of you - or into you - and you'll both think you were doing the right thing. If you're in a roundabout, you have the right of way over entering traffic. If you're in a particular lane (in a roundabout or otherwise), you have the right of way over another vehicle entering that lane (and by the way, entering a roundabout's left lane from the entrance's left lane means you cross the outside lane of the roundabout...). Still further, if a vehicle is in a lane in a roundabout, it can stay there all day long and go around and around and retain the right of way unless and until it changes lanes. So from a practical perspective, it seems to me that the vehicle in the outside lane usually has the right of way. People in the inside lane must assume that the vehicle in the outside lane is NOT getting off at the same exit as they are and yield to that vehicle.
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This is not correct. A person entering the roundabout in the outer lane must either take the first (a "right" turn) or second exit (go straight on the original road). To proceed beyond the second exit puts him in violation of the roundabout rules. People who do this have been the cause of every one of my near misses in roundabouts.