"fred" wrote in message
...
On a fairly open roundabout I can see a car approaching from a road on the
right. Given that I will be on the roundabout first who has the right of
way? Is the rule give way to traffic on the roundabout or give way to
traffic on the right?
I see so many cases where because the driver entering the roundabout sees
there is no traffic on his right he assumes he has right of way.

There are three cases:

- driver on right gets there first: he has priority and you must give way to
him

- you and driver on right get there at the same time: he has priority and
you must give way to him

- you get there before other driver: you don not have to give way, but
should aim to be clear of the roundabout so he can pass behind you without
having to brake more harshly than needed for negotiating the curve of the
roundabout

There is no obligation *always* to give way to traffic on your right (on the
roundabout or about to join) if you will be clear and will not affect them.
Consider the case of a car on your right that is 100 yards away from the
roundabout as you arrive. You don't have to stop (and it would be bad
driving to do so) just because he is visible in the distance; you will have
exited the roundabout on the far side long before he even crosses his
give-way line.

Obviously there are boundary cases where people cut it very fine and *do*
make the driver on your right brake hard to avoid hitting you. On a busy
road where I can see traffic queueing to join, I expect that cars might cut
it fairly fine even though I have priority over them, and I am prepared to
brake harder than normal (and give them a warning hoot!) just in case.
Roundabouts don't work well if there is far more traffic going in one
direction, such that traffic coming from the left never gets chance to join
the roundabout because there is never a large enough gap to do so: that is
when peak-hours traffic lights are needed.