Roundabout Question

[HLaB]

I quite often come through this roundabout, the direction which I'm concerned about is west to east (B9037 to A994 Main St). The overhead is out of date and the council have now added marked lanes to the roundabout, as marked I should be in the left lane going straight passed the Oakley exit/entrance. My instinct however is to be slightly more central to the centre island and drift over to the left after the Oakley exit/entrance. I can't say that has ever caused me a problem, probably the opposite, I don't get left hooks and folk shooting onto the roundabout from Oakley see me better and have more time to stop. However a mate who I cycle with disagrees with my positioning, what do folk think?

 

[Edge705]

Crikes HLab I wouldnt want to offer my opinion just in case something happened you seem to be getting on ok with it yourself just go with what you feel is right BUT if it was me and this would only apply to me I would always command an outside lane but not an inside lane at roundabouts that is to say if I was turning right (going all the way round) i'd be centre of the second lane all the way until the last exit - However if I was gong as you are I would stay left I would never want to be in centre of a left lane not with traffic coming past me on the right I would want to be left and cautious. Take a look at this one this is a nightmare I face every night traffic down a single road and and decline going at 40mph+ branching to two lanes Im left left left but at the earliest opportunity I want to jump right over right and stay right right right to the roundabout where I go right anyway. In doing this I allow traffic to filter past me and use two lanes if they like - Now if I leave this to just before the roundabout it would be a nightmare trying to jump across two lanes of traffic - I guess its what your happy/comfortable with but I avoid roundabouts if at all possible I'll even go out of my way and extend a commute to avoid them they are a nightmare for cyclists and the worst mini roundabouts I cannot believe cars are unable to negotiate them even though they've been around for 10 years !

 

[edindave]

Tricky question... it's hard to tell from the overhead shot, traffic furniture etc can influence where you need to position yourself to be seen and see other road users.
Cyclecraft encourages riders away from the gutter on roundabouts because of the angle of vision of the drivers about to enter the roundabout. But this roundabout is shaped like a running track and the long straight approach to the A994 Main Street exit makes the preceding exit/entrance seem almost like a T-junction. Is that the Oakley one?

 

[HLaB]

Is that the Oakley one?

It is indeed, the Oakley arm. I think with a shorter more compact roundabout I would be in the left but with that long straight I prefer to drift in when I'm passed it.

 

[edindave]

Well you have to trust your instinct. My concern with taking the outside lane would be risky drivers trying to undertake you getting to a later exit, but that's the trade off.
I reckon that one should be called an oblongabout - it's hardly round

 

[HLaB]

Well you have to trust your instinct. My concern with taking the outside lane would be risky drivers trying to undertake you getting to the same exit, but that's the trade off.
I reckon that one should be called an oblongabout - it's hardly round

I think the other reason I think I do it is the main flow is along the A985 and to use the left lane, I'd be closer to its exit/entrance and my instinct tells me to be in away from it, a more visible position and reduce the time I'm in front of it. I think because its long enough I don't get a problem with undertakers and can easily slot in, with the layout down stream being that the main 985 flow has to use the inner lane. Maybe if layout/ flows were different my instincts would be different too.