| someone correct me if I'm not 100% correct.
My understanding of the law relating to mini roundabout is that .
A) it is an offence to drive over a blob in the road, ie: where the
roundabout itself is more like a pimple on the road surface. And
should be treated as a normal roundabout.
B) where the mini roundabout is a painted spot in the road , it is
not an offence to drive over it, assuming that it is safe to do
so.
In my experiance the painted spot type are often painted in
positions that are difficult to treat as a roundabout at the best
of times.They really only serve as some sort of traffic regulation
at a junction that is busy at time and not others. My guess is
that it is cheaper to paint a blob in the road that put traffic
lights at a junction that for the most of the time does not need a
set of traffic lights. Also it take a lot less effort to do.
Garry
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The painted types are used where there isn't room for cars to
manouvre around a "pimple" (more particularly buses have
trouble). You can drive over them as long as they are not surrounded
by an unbroken white line, which, as all drivers know, means
that you cannot cross it (unless directed etc.). Personally, I
ignore the line if it would mean problems getting around it. I have
seen cars desperately reversing and shuffling to get around a
very tight curve as they negotiate a painted roundabout!
Dave
To rat hole (slightly), I use the Reading road in Wokingham, it has
cycle lanes painted down the sides (very commendable and useful when
I cycle). However, I often see cars straddling the (unbroken) white
line - very naughty, there's plenty of room in the car's lane.
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| Rightly or wrongly I don't know, but I view mini roundabouts as;
HAS got a roundabout sign on aproach, so give way to right applies
NOT got a keep left sign, so you do not have to 'circle' the
circle.
The difference between pimple and paint is more I think to emphasise.
e.g. when they put one in at the bottom of Park Lane Thatcham, it was a
pimple. People couldn't miss it as it was raised off the surface,
people got used to it.
When they re-surfaced the road they just painted it back on. Regulars
by now were aware of it's existance and carried on as before when it
was a pimple.
Richard
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