Drivers who ‘slingshot’ roundabouts have been warned they risk potential prosecution for the controversial queue-jumping manoeuvre.
Motorists often resort to ‘slingshotting’ when there’s a long line of cars waiting to take the left-hand exit at a roundabout.
Rather than idling in the long queue, some drivers choose to join the roundabout in the right-hand most lane, go all the way around the junction, and then peel off to the correct junction - thereby cutting in line.
To some UK motorists the move is a genius hack that might actually reduce congestion, to others it’s a ‘scumbag move’ - according to one forum - that’s likely to exacerbate road rage.
Now experts at Select Car Leasing reveal that while roundabout slingshotting isn’t an offence in and of itself, you could still find yourself being collared.
According to official guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), ‘misusing lanes to gain advantage over other drivers’ is an example of ‘careless or inconsiderate driving’, under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Select Car Leasing’s Graham Conway explains: “Careless or inconsiderate driving typically attracts a fixed penalty of £100 and 3 points on your licence. In more serious cases, motorists will have to go to court where they’ll face higher penalties. It all boils down to whether your driving ‘falls below the standard expected of a competent and careful driver’. Slingshotting a roundabout - or ‘misusing lanes to gain advantage over other drivers’ - could easily fall into this category. And while you might think you’re being clever with your roundabout ‘hack’, you run the risk of a police officer failing to be impressed at your driving skills.”
The Highway Code is also clear about roundabout use.
You should be in the ‘correct lane’ as you approach a roundabout. And when there are multiple lanes heading to a roundabout, you need to ‘use the most appropriate lane on approach and through it’.
Graham Conway, Managing Director at Select Car Leasing, adds: “The other thing to consider is that when you slingshot a roundabout and then circle around to exit at the correct junction, you’re potentially more likely to end up blocking traffic. Again, that’s careless or inconsiderate driving, and if you end up causing an accident, you could be looking at a fine running to thousands of pounds as well as 9 points on your licence.”
Other examples of careless or inconsiderate driving, according to the CPS, include overtaking on the inside, driving too close to another vehicle, the driver being ‘avoidably distracted’ through fiddling with the radio or infotainment system, middle lane motorway hogging, and also being an ‘unnecessarily slow’ driver.
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