Roundabout Rage

I read that the chief of police in Qld is quoted as saying that very few Qld divers know what to do in roundabouts. I live in Tweed Heads and I see things you would not believe with Qld drivers on the myriad of roundabouts in the Tweed.

Notso
I reackon it would have to be a top seller book eh or better still a dvd , Indicating in a roundabout ..... well if it's a big one yes , but some of the little ones only if your going L or R , if your not turning then one shouldn't in my opinion use indicators, it can become confusing to others , I have seen cars indicate left as they enter, then quickly right , you see then with the bloody right indicator on so you give way only to have then flick off to thier left .

Exactly my point. The rules in NSW, where the Tweed is, are that you must indicate your intention to exit the roundabout, whether large or small. Don't indicate entering, only leaving.
I have heard people say you dont indicate if you are going straight thru. How you go straight thru a ROUNDabout?

Merv
Engage 4WD

Love it!

I suppose it depends on whether they are using tanks or a snorkel?

I suppose it depends on whether they are using tanks or a snorkel?

Baz
Well that's exactly how the situation was for me , I was in the roundabout first, and by about 10 seconds but had to stop,

Hang on a minute,
the purpose of the roundabout is so that the traffic can ONLY come from the right, giving way to the right, IS giving way to the person there first.
Shane

Shane
Bloody hell ....I wonder where those cars come from that were entering the roundabout on my left as I went through one later on,
Shane ....your not with it Boy , wakey wakey .

Please explain to me why I'm not with it?
I read your post carefully and fully understand what happened, you turned left, had plenty of time, had no where to go because of pedestrians, then moved, blonde took offence.
PLEASE don't be condescending towards me, I'm not the one advocating roundabouts should be free for all.
Shane

Shane
Sorry , didn't know you take life so seriously .

Doug

The car entering the roundabout has right of way so if you enter first doing 5kmph you don't have to way to that 60tonne Bdouble on your right that is doing 60kph that hasn't entered the roundabout just yet.

Shane D, I'm with you. How can people say you dont have to give way to the right? Of course you do!

briggzee

Wrong.

The car that enters the roundabout first has right of way - it is in the road rules! Give way to the right does not apply.

Garrycol,

Roundabouts are Sooooooo simple. Wherever you enter it there will ALWAYS be traffic coming from your right (even if they enter from your left which means they have to come ALL the way around it to be on your right).

YOU simply look to the right and see if there is enough of a gap to get into the traffic flow without risk of collision with any vehicle coming around the roundabout from your right hand side (regardless of where they entered it).

Therefore you are ALWAYS giving way to the right. Simple.

The same holds true for all roundabouts no matter how big or small or how many lanes. (Check out the doozy in the UK further down this thread!)

Muddy

Your roundabouts in SA must be different to the rest of the country.

This has been lifted from NSW RTA

Giving way at roundabouts
A driver or rider entering a roundabout must give
way to any vehicle in the roundabout. In other words,
the driver or rider must only enter the roundabout
when there is a safe gap in the traffic and no risk
of a collision.
Indicating when entering a roundabout
When you are entering a roundabout and you
intend to leave at the first exit less than halfway
around the roundabout, you must indicate left.
When you are entering a roundabout and intend
to leave more than halfway around the roundabout,
you must indicate right.
B. Giving Way and Indicating
Indicating when leaving a roundabout
If practical, drivers and riders must indicate left when
leaving a roundabout, even if going straight ahead.
The driver must stop the indicator as soon as the driver
has left the roundabout.

To use Garrycol scenario, I would say that If he got creamed by the B double approaching from the right, he would be at fault for pulling out in front of traffic, you didn't have a safe gap.
I think the rules in this wording are vague and are open to "interpretation" but I still beleive that if you put yourself in a position that causes someone to slam into the drivers door you will be at fualt, because you entered traffic without a safe gap.
Australia now has standardised roadrule system, any Victorians would remember that stupid rule about two vehicles turning into the same street, who had to yeild, Victoria was different to every other state ,now is inline with the rest of the country, this is one example
Shane

Disco
Settle down mate .....settle down , you'll blow a gasket , ....Oh so that made you feel good eh, well that's OK then ...carry on,
Not to sure how far away the Ped' Xing is from the R'bout , will size it up later ,
And this is a reason why Mt Isa City Council took away the right of way for pedestrians next to Kmart in Simpson St, Most off the Xings in Isa are Ped' give way to Cars

This post is perhaps a good indication of why we all should do a written exam every time we renew our license.

Disco driver,
Surely, as a pedestrian, YOU would not walk 400m to get to the diagonally opposite corner of a roundabout which is less then 20m away.

As much as you may hate pedestrians, you probably don't realise that whenever you're turning out of or into a street you MUST give way to the pedestrians wanting to cross that street.
Whether in anybody's opinion this is a dumb idea is irrelevant.
Road rules are just like spelling; Full of obscure items, and only works if everybody knows and follows the same rules.

R.

Mr Fawlty
I take it the long Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate has a sheepish bleat to it , i.e K.B.Wilson

When I first saw that on an earlier EO post I thought WTF?????

But after studying it for a while it actually is a fantastic idea. It is just a series of smaller roundabouts and you only really have to deal with them one at a time as you drive through. Apparantly the accident rate at this place is lower than a normal roundabout!

How else would you plan out a SIX way intersection without there being complete chaos!

Cheers
Muddy

Muddy,

I remembered that Andrew had posted this roundabout previously, so I did a little search and found it so chucked it onto this post for a new reaction.

Cheers Kev

the simple fact is that the majority of Australian drivers could not drive in this environment. after spending a lot of time driving in europe. i believe the level of driving skill in Australia is far below average. there needs to be more done to educate the drivers on our roads of driving skills.
there needs to be a change of attitude from the authorities, who teach us that slow is safe.
i have done thousands of k's at speeds around 200km/h and am still hear to talk about it. but if you believe the authorities i am DEAD.

speed is not the issue. bad drivers are.

keith

Lucky we dont have to drive in PARIS

keith & louise posted:
My mate after living in london said exactly that- you cant drive like you do in australia and survive.
-you have to know EXACTLY where you are going - if you miss turn offs you can be totally stuffed
- you have to be able to drive alot faster and closer than you would here
- while road rage certainly does exist you have to be far mor cooperative rather than the mentality here where any indescretion is cause for road rage and a posting on EO about it

I remember years ago I was approaching Blackpool Lancs. It was dark and I was negotiating this roundabout whena white light approached me. What the BH I thought but discovered that it was a tram. The "authorities" in their wisdom had put both the up and down tracks on the same side of the roundabout.

Barnesy
Why is it some of you blokes keep pushing "Give way to the right" , There is no such law for roundabouts, it's give way to traffic already in the roundabout , although not worded same as I stated but the sign has an arrowed circle and the words "Give Way" , NO mention of Right or Left so basicly if your approaching a roundabout and the vehicle on the left gets in first then you must give way to that vehicle ,

Cars already on the roundabout are coming from the right! Unless you are in a country that drives on the other side of the road then they will come from the left.

If the roundabout is clogged up with traffic then use your commonsense and don't make things worse by entering the roundabout if there isn't a clear exit.

You can't rely on road signs to remind you how to use a roundabout by telling you which cars you should be giving way to.

Jeez, Doug - don't some folk find the simplest of things confusing? What are blondes doing driving cars anyway?

(Just joking for the PC crew) ;-)