I've noticed the road markings on some roundabouts seem to be confusing a right turn with going straight on, or maybe it's just me that's confused. I was always told that anything past 180 degrees is a right turn, so why are some roundabouts marked so that people turn right in the left hand lane, like the example below?

The red arrow shows approximately where the exit is if you're supposedly going straight on. If I was coming from the direction of the photo I'd be in the right lane, but a lot of people are content with turning right in the left lane. You can see this roundabout on Google maps if you put in these coordinates: 53.786462, -1.404336, and the photo is driving west on the A63 towards Leeds.

What are the rules here, am I just misunderstanding how roundabouts work?

If you imagine a roundabout as a clock face any exit past what would be 12 on the clock is signalling / turning right on approach

Not always, the thickness of the exit shown on the roundabout sign indicates the "main route".

So often it will be considered a straight on, in terms of a continuation of the main route, even if it is beyond 12 o clock, if the exit is shown thick.

We have this quite a bit on dual carriageways around here, both lanes are considered straight on, but the exit is a right turn shown as a thick line.

I disagree with the '' thick '' exit explanation above.

Well that was a blunt statement, lol.

Just going on experience of the layouts around me...

No offence intended !

I'm going on 10 years grade 5 driving instructor experience 1996 - 2006.

I should have included - unless signs dictate otherwise - which the '' thick '' exit does not

What gets more confusing is when they put straight ahead in multiple lanes, but each with different route descriptions or road names.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's a bit confused lol. I think the road markings for that roundabout are just plain wrong anyway, I mean there is an arrow for straight on in the left lane, and straight on / right in the right lane, but nothing showing you can turn left.

Yes there is !

The arrow in the nearside lane directs left turn or follow the road ahead.

First exit on a roundabout - indicate left before joining the roundabout stay in left lane and and continue indicating until leaving the roundabout.

Second exit on roundabout- stay in left lane and after passing the first exit indicate left before leaving.

Third and subsequent exits- join right lane and indicate right until past the exit before the intended one and then indicate left when leaving.

Not always true, many roundabouts have left turn only in the nearside lane

That is deemed to be a second exit so therefore you stay in the left lane.

Not if road signs dictate that the nearside lane is left turn only - to follow the road ahead ( possibly 2nd exit ) one could not use the nearside lane.

Very true, if there is a specific lane condition stipulated then that takes presidence over standard roundabout rules.

Thank you.

Think I should come out of retirement ! :)

I couldn't be a driving instructor, I'd probably end up bouncing someone's head off the steering wheel in frustration.

Ha ha ! :)

I loved every minute of my 10 years . . .

My wife asked me to teach her.

I just told her that if she wanted a divorce she only had to ask. :d

Never teach a family member & definitely not your wife or husband - divorce is more expensive than 35 odd lessons ! :)

For sure :p

My dad taught me and we had no problems.

I think teaching partners would be a bad idea though.

I should have mentioned before too, when I said about thick exit, that can usuallt goes with lane markings which differ to standard roundabout rules.

So it can say straight ahead on the road, but the exit will be past 12 o'clock and backed up by being a thick exit line on the roundabout sign.

So despite being a roundabout, the road you are on, continues to the right.

Some roundabouts are awfully laid out though and make no sense, so you just have to do your best with them, lol.

Yes there is !

The arrow in the nearside lane directs left turn or follow the road ahead.

So it does, I don't know how I missed that lol. I normally only come at that roundabout from what would be the first exit from that picture, turning left to head towards Leeds, or in the other direction turning right. I always thought the people sitting in the left lane getting in my way were doing something wrong, but now I know otherwise so thanks for the advice guys :)

Edit: I think my driving instructor was just giving me bad information about roundabouts, and what's worse is that he kept telling me when it was safe to join the roundabout so I couldn't learn to judge it for myself. It took me quite a while to gain the confidence with roundabouts that I have now, but it doesn't help that they all seem to be laid out differently.

First exit on a roundabout - indicate left before joining the roundabout stay in left lane and and continue indicating until leaving the roundabout.

Second exit on roundabout- stay in left lane and after passing the first exit indicate left before leaving.

Third and subsequent exits- join right lane and indicate right until past the exit before the intended one and then indicate left when leaving.

If you have a roundabout where the third exit is at your 12 o'clock or less (rare I know, or maybe non-existent), should you still indicate right and use the right lane, assuming there are no road markings showing which lane to use?

It matters not which exit it is numerically . . any exit that is past / after 12 on an imaginary clock face should be treated as a right turn, unless road signs or markings dictate otherwise.

Remember . . passing the driving test is proving one has the MINIMUM knowledge / ability required to drive unsupervised - we all continue to learn something new every time we drive our cars.

Driving is a life skill - the perfect driver does not exist.

Drive like your life depends on it - because it does.

:)