That looks like a very poorly laid out rotary. Such a traffic device (rotary, roundabout, traffic circle, w/e) is equivalent to an intersection: you are not allowed to change lanes in an intersection, nor in a rotary. The truck driver entered in the right lane, he should have remained in the right lane until leaving the rotary. But this is not entirely clear from the way the lanes are marked, MEDOT needs to fix that.
That is weirdly laid out. You’re certainly allowed to change lanes in a rotary, though. How else would you exit if you’re not in the outside lane?
Well, this layout is actually improved a bit from what it used to be. At least it prevents (or attempts to prevent) people from riding the outside lane all the way around the circle. It also reinforces the yield to left rule that I mentioned above, since traffic in the right lane is required to yield to traffic exiting from the left lane.
Of course, if the lines are broken, and if it can be done safely, you’re allowed to change lanes. That doesn’t change just because you’re going around a circle.
To the guy who said I shouldn’t change lanes in the rotary: Look here and tell me how I could go from Western Avenue to Water Street without making a lane change within the rotary.
If you have two lanes on the exit, then the left lane is allowed to exit along-side the right lane (else the two lane exit is rather pointless, is it not?).
That did not post a picture of a sign. That posts a google search page with a bunch of indeterminate pictures, the only sign shown being this one: Washington State Department of Transportation
So you’re saying he should come to a dead stop in the left lane of the roundabout if he sees a truck approaching from a right lane, even if the truck has a yield sign?
I am unclear on these rotary things. They look like a fucking mess. Especially those multi-lane roundabouts.
According to this link, there’s a handy video on how to drive a roundabout. What it tells me:
-
There is a yield sign before entering the roundabout. You must yield to traffic in the roundabout. Truck did not do that.
-
You must pick your lane before you enter the roundabout. Right lane can only turn right or go straight. Left lane can not turn right, only go straight or left or U turn. Truck wanted to go left but entered in the right lane.
-
You cannot change lanes in the roundabout. Truck changed lanes in roundabout. Now it does say big trucks may take up both lanes, and don’t drive next to them. But that means don’t drive up from behind and pull up next to the truck, not don’t be in the roundabout and let a truck fail to yield and then pull in front of you. I mean, how do you control what the truck driver does?
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
That is weirdly laid out. You’re certainly allowed to change lanes in a rotary, though. How else would you exit if you’re not in the outside lane?
[/QUOTE]
According to the link, you may exit from the inside (left) lane. Right lane traffic cannot go through a roundabout, only enter then exit.
It does seem to me, though, that you still have plenty of potential for accidents from vehicles crossing paths. Let’s look at the multilane signs from my link.
A person entering the intersection from the bottom in the right lane can only go right or go straight. That is the yellow path. The person in the left lane can only go straight or left. That’s great. Except a person entering the roundabout from the right side right lane can go straight, crossing the green path. Yes, they are supposed to yield to both lanes.
This still seems like a clusterfuck to me. How does this make more sense than an intersection and a traffic signal?
Not according to my link.
Your image is not fully labeled or weirdly zoomed. I am assuming Western Ave is the roadway from the left. Water Street is the exit going up and curving right.
Those lines shown are goofy. They do not track actual street lanes. They flow across lanes, and the one from Western Ave makes a T into the roundabout instead of following the curve. Don’t count those stripes at all.
Enter from Western Ave in the left lane. You will cross the outer lane but not drive in the outer lane. Thus you do not change lanes, you cross the lane. See that car at the bottom of the roundabout? He’s in the left lane. You would then exit at Water Street in the left lane. You do not exit in the right lane. No lane change.
As a person who’s lived on the west coast for his entire driving life, I just have to say that I’m terrified of roundabouts and don’t ever plan on going to the east coast. You guys have crazy drivers and roads!
Don’t go to Europe either, then. In France they even park on roundabouts.
Correct. Entering from approximately 9 o’clock, and I want to end up on the street that is at about 2 o’clock.
A radio button on the left will turn the labels on and off, use Bing Maps, because their aerial shot is more up-to-date, and shows the rotary as it currently is. I left them on so you could see the street names. You can also zoom in and out with the buttons on the right.
The only problem is that the two lanes on the exit fork almost immediately after you leave the rotary. Water Street is the right fork, and the left fork brings you around to where you can either head back to the rotary or go to State Street (almost due north).
You can see it a little better here. Just for clarity’s sake, the building with the bright red roof is on Water Street.
According to the federal hwy administration, yeah, pretty much
“Always assume trucks need all available space — don’t pass them!”
Worked fine for me when I tested it before posting. Here, can you see it on this page? I have seen a sign like this or similar on every roundabout out here.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR539/TenMileBorder/testroundabout.htm
Trucks need, and will use, both lanes of a traffic circle and anyone who doesn’t understand this shouldn’t be driving, and would probably be found at fault should an accident occur. The truck driver seems to have driven according to instructions for driving trucks through such an intersection. They are expected to use both lanes and even drive up onto the truck apron in the center if needed. The OP appears to have kept driving along side the truck without realizing that the truck was going to be using the whole circle.
Huh. I’m sitting about a mile from there right now, and had no idea there was a traffic round-about! Guess I ouggta get to know Augusta better…
Actually, by your own cite according to the OP’s description, the truck is still at fault: “As you enter, yield to circulating traffic on the left, but you don’t need to stop if the way is clear.”
The OP described, repeatedly, being “circulating traffic on the left” as the truck entered without yielding from the right.
Then you probably ought to avoid Washinton state, because they are popping up like fairy rings all over the place.
For some reason it wasn’t loading/zooming when I used it earlier, but it is working now. I only mentioned the glowy marked lines because they obscure the traffic lanes on the pavement.
I see that. So that intersection/roundabout was poorly built and does not comply with the regulations imposed upon drivers that they not change lanes in a roundabout. 
Or else all the instructions not to change lanes in the roundabout are more “general tips to avoid running into people” rather than hard and fast rules.
I didn’t say race up next to the truck. Let me say it differently. You see a truck approaching from behind you in the right lane. Do you come to a full stop in the left lane until that truck passes you, crosses over your lane, and makes a left turn? Or do you expect that truck to yield to your right of way, since you are in front of him and already in the lane?
That one worked.
I underlined the relevant part of those instructions. The truck driver failed to yield to traffic already in the roundabout.
Truck drivers don’t automatically have the right of way and must yield to other traffic that does have the right of way, and anyone who does not understand this should not be driving, especially a commercial vehicle.
No, he explicitly failed to yield to traffic from the left that was already in the roundabout. While the truck can take both lanes, he cannot do so by running over a car that is already there.
That is not what the OP said. The Op did not drive up alongside a truck that was in the roundabout. The Op was in the roundabout, and a truck approached from the right lane to enter the roundabout and failed to yield, then swerved in front of the Op and cut him off.
No, they have no bananas… from Augusta to Piscataquis…
Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.
Don’t go to Utah or Mexico either - they have them there. One in Utah is the on/off ramp to the 15 freeway in St George!
There’s one like that where I am. The Shirlington Rotary serves on/off ramps for 395, the 395 HOV lanes, and a couple surface streets.
A semi is also allowed to take up two lanes to make a right turn on red; it doesn’t mean traffic that has a green light is expected to stop for him!
Being allowed to take up both lanes at the rotary if he needs to does not give him the right to ignore the plain as day yield signs posted at his entrance (and every other entrance to that rotary); he still has to wait for a safe gap before he is allowed to enter.
When they say not to overtake trucks at roundabouts, they are referring to traffic entering the roundabout from the same road as the truck. It’s the same idea as not pulling into the right hand lane of an intersection if there’s a truck in the left lane with a right turn signal on. That guideline is common sense around vehicles that need to make wide turns; but it does not translate to throwing out the existing right of way rules.
Truckers are not exempt from obeying yield signs, stop signs, red lights, speed limits, and the other rules of the road.