08/11/2026
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🚗STOP MOANING ABOUT LEARNERS AT ROUNDABOUTS WHEN HALF OF YOU WON’T INDICATE!
There’s a learner approaching a roundabout, checking to the right, watching the traffic and trying to work out who’s going where.
Meanwhile, the drivers already on the roundabout appear to be taking part in a top-secret mission where nobody is allowed to reveal their destination.
One isn’t indicating at all.
Another is indicating right despite being about to leave.
Someone else is positioned like they’re going straight ahead, then suddenly takes an exit as though they’ve just remembered they’ve left the oven on.
People wonder why learners hesitate!
What exactly are they supposed to do? Consult Mystic Meg?
Read your mind?
Send a carrier pigeon across the roundabout requesting clarification?
Here’s something some experienced drivers need to understand.
A learner isn’t necessarily hesitating because they don’t know how to use a roundabout.
Sometimes they’re waiting because the drivers already circulating haven’t made their intentions clear.
Your signals and positioning should help other road users understand what you’re planning to do.
When they’re unclear or misleading, you’re making an already demanding situation unnecessarily difficult.
🚗 Now for the serious bit.
The Highway Code, Rules 184–186, explains how drivers should approach, signal, position and negotiate roundabouts.
✅ Signal correctly and at the appropriate time, so other drivers can understand your intentions.
✅ Position your vehicle appropriately for your intended direction.
✅ Remember that an indicator alone doesn’t guarantee a vehicle will turn. We must observe its position, speed and actual movement.
✅ Give learners time to assess the traffic and make a safe decision.
✅ If you’re following a learner, don’t use your horn to pressure them into entering a gap they aren’t confident is safe.
As a driving instructor, I teach my learners to make progress, recognise safe opportunities and avoid unnecessary hesitation.
But I also teach them never to assume another driver will do what their indicator suggests.
There’s a difference between hesitation and sensible observation.
I’ve been teaching for 22 years, and I can assure you that some of the most confusing behaviour I see at roundabouts comes from people who’ve held a full licence for decades.
Some drivers appear to believe indicators are optional extras that came with the winter package.
So before complaining about learners taking too long at roundabouts, have a look at how YOU negotiate them.
Are you indicating correctly?
Is your positioning clear?
Are you giving other drivers enough information to make a safe decision?
Because learners don’t have crystal balls, and neither do the rest of us.
🚗 A roundabout should involve observation, communication and cooperation, not a guessing competition with potentially serious consequences.
How many times have you sat waiting at a roundabout, only for a vehicle to turn off without indicating when you could have safely gone?
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✍️ Sheena Ahmed
