“In this short video, we look at some useful additional information about roundabouts as mentioned in our introduction video. Roundabouts come in many shapes and sizes. Here, we see a small island with lots of signs. It doesn’t look like any of the roundabouts we have seen so far, but it has exactly the same rules. Give way to traffic from the right.
At the other extreme, there are large spiral roundabouts. At these roundabouts, the lanes guide you towards your intended exit. In this clip, you can see the driver approaching in the right hand lane and joining the right hand lane in the roundabout, but, without ever changing lanes, the car is in the left hand lane when it leaves the roundabout.
Althought the signalling rules are the same for entering and leaving, be careful to make sure that your signals don’t mislead others into thinking that you are changing lane as you go around the roundabout. Another feature that you might find is coloured tarmac. Here, the red surface guides drivers into the correct lane when entering the roundabout.
At some roundabouts on fast roads, you will find anti-skid surfaces on the approach. The skid marks on this surface act as a reminder about checking your speedometer when reducing speed for roundabouts.
On fast roads, some roundabouts have Keep Clear markings. This helps to keep traffic flowing at busy periods when there are jams on the exit roads, even when there are no markings.
You should always try to leave a space for crossing traffic if your exit from the roundabout is blocked. We mentioned larger vehicles when talking about mini roundabouts, take special care, especially with large articulated lorreis, which can cut across lanes or drivers might not be able to see you in their mirrors.
If you ever visit Swindon, you might find yourself driving around the multi roundabout.”
