Calchas

You should give way to traffic approaching from your right, and to traffic already on the roundabout. You have priority over traffic on your left (unless it is already on the roundabout). It is not necessary to stop before the mini-roundabout unless you are giving way.

ajax

I think it's pretty obvious that the OP knows the highway code.

What he is asking, at least it seems to me, is that obviously many vehicles in his neighbourhood do not observe the rules that you quoted; those on the through roads seem to power right through the roundabout regardless of whether they have right of way, whereas those on side roads seem to be relegated to inferior status. In other words, the roundabout may as well not even be there. The OP's question - which is half-rhetorical - is if this is normal or not.

I feel that it is not.

Calchas

It was not obvious to me, prettily or otherwise.

philemer

Sounds like Italy.

stut

The problem with mini roundabouts is that their size means that people arrive at them simultaneously more often than at the full size ones. Then it either turns into a game of chicken or "no, after you".

Cycling in the UK, I find mostly good, but the sheer density of London traffic means that you come across at least one weapons-grade eejit a day. It's mostly benign, but not always. Mind you, the other countries where tend to cycle are France, where it's a national sport, and the Netherlands and Denmark, where you could ride blindfolded and be OK.

I do agree with the intolerant, often aggressive way of driving though, particularly in the SE, and particularly on motorways. It's one of the reasons I can do rarely be bothered driving.

The one thing we are good at, though, is not drink driving. I'm always shocked how prevalent this is in places like France, for example.

ajax

See, this I just don't understand. Why don't people just treat them like regular roundabouts? It should be clear that the person on the right always gets priority.

The amount of reckless and downright suicidal behaviour at 80mph on the motorways in the south of England is truly astonishing

That's true. Or in New England. There are lots of places where drink-driving is far more prevalent than in this country, to its credit. ^

ppp909

I think the point was what happens when people arrive from all directions at exactly the same time. Everyone has someone on their right. It's the same situation as four-way stops in the US. If four people arrive at exactly the same time then there's a stand-off. Of course, what normally happens is someone will take the initiative and pull forward.


Mini-roundabouts aren't difficult though. They're just normal junctions, but with roundabout priorities.

ajax

Oh OK, thanks. Because he didn't mention anything about that. But thanks for clarifying.

It's weird because apparently some people prefer to ignore them; in the OP above, he says that people on through roads tend to just ignore them and drive on through despite not legally having the right of way. I prefer public transport too let it be someone else's problem.

lhrsfo

Strange. I've never seen that happen. I have no problems with mini-roundabouts, it's conjoined ones that I struggle with. The principles are, of course, identical to regular ones, but it always seems more difficult to me, and I get the impression to most other road users.

More generally, I think London is pretty easy to drive compared with most equally congested places. If you don't like the M4 at 80mph, you should try Highway 880 in the East Bay of the San Francisco area which must have some of the most reckless driving I've ever seen. It would make Lewis Hamilton blush in Monaco at 3:30am.

VivoPerLei

This is indeed what I meant. If everyone obeyed the Highway Code there would never be an issue!

I think in this case the issue might be specific to the mini-roundabout in question. It isn't in the middle of a high street as many are - it is on a local road, where it appears they have built a Waitrose off to one side, and added the mini-roundabout to allow access. And as Stut mentioned above, it seems like one of those mini-roundabouts where cars coming from both primary directions hit it at speed

dddc

Wishful thinking!

My borough has introduced a blanket 20mph 18mth "trial". Most drivers ignore the 20mph signs. After overtaking a set of parked lorries in front of the Tesco Local near me, I slowed down and indicated I was turning right - and I got overtaken! Had I of turned, we would of crashed!!

The roads have been less safe during this trial than when it was 30mph!

VivoPerLei

That's unbelievably egregious.

We have another traffic circle nearby that is very often busy. My normal entrance has two lanes with the left clearly marked as left turn only. Since the right lane is often backed up, cars continually enter the circle in the left hand lane...and then don't turn left. If you happen to be going straight through you constantly have to be on the lookout for them. Once in awhile I end up going all the way around the circle, just to safely go straight through

Microwave

I've found that London has a "flow" of traffic. It's probably more direct in tenor than most parts of England and certainly most parts of the US, but I don't actually take it to be aggressive inasmuch as I don't think drivers are actually being aggressive most of the time, just following the pulse of traffic and getting where they're going. Overall I appreciate traffic and drivers in the capital much more than other cities in which I've lived.

VivoPerLei

This is definitely true. I often describe it as being rhythmic

KCZ

I spent last week driving in the UK (not London!) and I thought the drivers were extremely courteous in general. Most seemed inclined to travel well over the speed limit though, unless there were speed cameras about, and I couldn't believe how high the posted limits are in the small towns. I frequently saw limits of 60 mph in settled areas where here in the US it would likely be 35 mph. And the roads were much narrower in those places as well.