Spiral roundabout: how to drive it

Watch it, then drive it

1. 1

   Watch the official video

   DVSA's short guide to the junction, roundabout and crossing skills the examiner looks for.

   

   From the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on YouTube. Free to watch.

   More videos on YouTube↗
2. 2

   Drive it with the coach

   Guided mode puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift.

   Practise this in the simulator
3. 3

   Test yourself

   Test mode says nothing and marks you in the examiner's words. Three clean runs in a row and it is learnt.

What is different

On an ordinary two-lane roundabout the lanes are just two rings, so leaving from the inner lane means crossing the outer one. On a spiral the lane line starts at the dividing line of the road you came in on, curves outwards round the island and ends at the dividing line of an exit. Nobody has to change lane to leave: the inner lane flows out into the inner exit lane.

Choose the lane on the approach

The sign before the roundabout and the arrows on the road say which lane goes where, and they beat the general rule. In this layout the left lane is for the first exit only; the right lane is for going straight on or turning right.

On the roundabout

Look right at the line and give way, including to the lane beside you. Then stay between your lines. Signals work as at any roundabout: left for the first exit, right for the third, nothing for straight on, and left after the exit before yours.

Common faults

Taking the wrong lane for your exit, then cutting across the paint. Fix: read the sign and arrows early. Drifting over a lane line on the roundabout. Fix: if you are in the right lane and want the exit that your lane does not serve, go round again rather than cut across. Signalling left too early. Fix: only after you pass the exit before yours.

The traffic is the same every time

Fixed seed, fixed timestep. Each car follows the paint for its own exit, so you see the lanes working as they should.

Common questions