Near Miss of the Day 24: Drivers who don't know how to use roundabouts

Roundabouts are one of the defining features of Craigavon so the fact so many of the people driving there are crap at using them is particularly annoying. It is so bad that they actually had to paint arrows on the road on the big roundabout which follows the one in the second video so that people know what lane to be in- but it still doesn't help.    I live less than 1km fom the one in the second video- in fact I normally use it as I head out on my rides and it is no joke that the one reason I can't give it all when out on my bike is that I need to keep something in reserve to actually get across that roundabout on the way home.

The best of it is that when Craigavon was being designed as a new city in the 60s and 70s it was way ahead in regards thinking around safe cycling infrastructure. But the project stalled and while there is still a lot of decent paths it left a mish-mash of  infrastructure that resulted in roundabouts that weren't needed and roads that were initially planned and built to be part of an extended motorway now going through built up areas meaning drivers are even less likely to adhere to speed limits.

It is still amazing how many people get confused by rounadbouts even though they are simple, I cross only one major one across the A316 every day and without fail someone is in the wrong lane for the exit they want to use or blocks the keep clear bit etc.

@craigstitt - there's something about bikes that does seem to separate them from logic and induce MGIF.

1km section of my commute, straight and flat, 20mph speed limit, goes past a school. Always clear on my runs both ways so I'm  doing 17ish-23ish (ahem) depending on wind etc.

As far as I can tell, I  am overtaken by EVERY SINGLE CAR that is behind me on that stretch. Since I 'observed' this a few months ago, I've been pretty intrigued so I watch for any that might hold back. I haven't noticed any. It's insane. I want to film it. I haven't noticed anything else that's Twilight Zoney about this road.

After the overtake, about 50% just show that they don't give a shit about the speed limit and hare off, predictably. The other half itself is roughly split in two - people who pretend they're doing 20, but really anything less than 30 will do. Then the remainder continue to observe the speed limit at about the speed I'm going.

I'd like to walk through the thought process of people who think they're careful and law-abiding drivers, and decide to break the speed limit to overtake a bike doing the speed limit, to then do the same speed as (or slower than) the bike. Some seem like really impatient arses (or nervous overtakers), revving, looking for the gap.... to do 20mph in front of me doing 20mph.

The MGIF attitude or the SMIDSY (or as I like to call it the catchy SMISYBDGAF [Sorry mate I saw you but don't give a f*@k]) is the primary cause for most roundabout issues involving cyclists.

The first incident is a fairly common occurance on my commuting where I cross a roundabout without needing to stop.  Car drivers quite often have their view obscured by pillars and therefore miss cyclists approaching or on a roundabout where they would see a car approaching.

The second incident is again a fairly common occurance, car drivers just trying to take the racing line as much as they can.  It happens both on the entrance to and exit from roundabout....because car's have right of way on the roads

But some drivers are just bell ends.... and no amount of complaining will do anything about that.  I have just about been collected on my commute home at one particular roundabout by multiple car drivers.  They go in the right hand lane of two at a roundabout so that they can turn left..... and the reason they have to go into the right hand lane??? because the bloody cyclist is in the left hand lane and the car MGIF..... despite the fact that I am positioned in the right half of my lane (because I am going straight on).  

When will car drivers learn that many cyclists can beat them away from a junction/set of lights..... just saying 

The biggest problem with roundabouts is the number of cars with defective indicators.  Some seemingly new vehicles have indicators which don't work at roundabouts, but they usually work at other junctions.  I think the DfT should investigate this phenomenon and revise the construction and use regs.

In the first one it is a MGIF wpcombined with slow acceleration by the car.

in the second, the cyclist should have been in a more dominant postpition to prevent being squeezed out.

Poor lane discipline on roundabouts is a problem for drivers too. Two inidents at work in the last 6 months due to vans and lorries changing lanes and that's with a workforce of 8 people! We do do a lot of business mileage though.

The A1 / A14 roundabout is the bane of my life. I am always on the alert to drivers moving lanes midway round the roundabout. 

IMHO

That second one had nothing to do with the roundabout initially. It was a deliberate squeeze on the cyclist. The fact their piss poor lane discipline afterwards was also captured shows a low level of awareness. 

The second driver was way too far to the left for the right turn she eventually took. They also, by the looks of things, did not check their left-hand mirror before coming over. Piss poor driving without a doubt.

 "...the second, a driver who takes the wrong lane into a roundabout for the exit he or she is heading for - both occurrences that will be familiar to anyone who cycles on UK roads." 

In a piece titled "Drivers who don't know how to use roundabouts" I find the above a bit worrying. Nothing wrong or illegal about that driver's lane choice.

The impatient overtake and resultant close pass approaching the roundabout was well out of order though.