Annie Winterburn has shared important advice about what to do at roundabouts, claiming that despite being ‘so simple’ to understand’, many motorists make the same mistake
A driving instructor has shared light on the subject she claims “everyone gets wrong” despite it being “so, so simple” to understand. Annie Winterburn, who runs a TikTok account devoted to sharing theory test advice, explained that signalling at roundabouts is the “easiest thing to do,” yet many UK drivers struggle with the concept.
Holding up a diagram to illustrate her point, she explained: “If you’re going left you should signal left and keep the signal on – easy isn’t it?” And when it comes to turning right – any exit beyond straight ahead – Annie advised: “You are going to signal right as you’re driving towards the roundabout in the right-hand lane.”
Annie went on to acknowledge that the trickiest part of doing so occurs as you signal left to take your exit.
“When you get on to the roundabout, you’re going to take the right-hand lane [for the third exit],” she said. “When you get to the second exit, you’ll start to signal to tell people you’re going down the third exit.”
Whilst that all may sound relatively straightforward, Annie continued by noting that the biggest area of confusion concerns travelling straight ahead – most commonly the second exit.
“Would you agree that not signalling means you are going straight ahead?” she asked hypothetically. “Don’t signal [on approaching the roundabout],” she continued. “Instead, as you get here [just beyond first exit] you always signal left to leave.
“So start to signal as you pass the exit before the one you want to take.”
Annie closed by summarising: “So, to tell people you are going straight ahead, you don’t signal. But when you are on the roundabout, you always signal left to leave. I hope that helps.”
Writing in response, one TikTok user fumed: “Nobody signals left when exiting a roundabout anymore. It’s so frustrating. Most drivers just leave their right indicator on and we’re supposed to be mind readers, knowing where they have come from and when they want to exit!”
A second person also hit out: “The amount of people that indicate right when exiting the roundabout drives me up the wall.”
And a third moaned: “Why do most people use the right lane to go straight ahead? It’s so frustrating!”
The Highway Code’s website provides the following advice regarding signalling at roundabouts. It says: “When taking the first exit to the left, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
- signal left and approach in the left-hand lane
- keep to the left on the roundabout and continue signalling left to leave.
“When taking an exit to the right or going full circle, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
- signal right and approach in the right-hand lane
- keep to the right on the roundabout until you need to change lanes to exit the roundabout
- signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want.
“When taking any intermediate exit, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise
- select the appropriate lane on approach to the roundabout
- you should not normally need to signal on approach
- stay in this lane until you need to alter course to exit the roundabout
- signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want.”