I notice by the demolished road sign that there has been an accident fairly recently on Dorchester's Football ground roundabout. I have no idea how or when it happened but it does highlight to me a hazard on this roundabout.

If you approach this roundabout from the direction of Dorchester town you pull up and wait for a gap in the traffic coming from Monkey's Jump direction. This traffic appears in three lanes right hand traffic turning right for Weymouth middle lane traffic going straight across towards the east and a left hand lane.

It is this left hand lane that is the problem.

If traffic is signalling left to turn towards Dorchester then all is well, however of course not all cars give a signal and one assumes that being in the left hand lane they are going left. However they may come straight across heading east so no signal necessary as they are going straight on.Amazingly there is a short lane for them marked A35 so all is correct. However it gives very little time for a car that has started to move out from the Dorchester direction.

If you look at the road markings coming from the Monkey's Jump direction the right hand lane says Weymouth the middle lane says A35 East and the crucial left hand lane says Dorchester AND the A35 east. This is where there is danger. If a car in this left hand lane is not signalling one assumes it may be turning towards Dorchester but equally it may be quite rightly going straight on to the east in its short lane marked A 35 giving a bit of a shock to the driver waiting to to turn out from the Dorchester direction.

This design of roadmarking has been used on the new northern bypass to Norwich and there have been a number of accidents that have caused concern locally.

The roundabout at Morrisons has simpler lane markings and to my mind much safer. Approaching from the Weymouth Relief Road the road markings are clear The road becomes three lanes right hand for Morrisons direction middle lane straight on and the left hand lane has a left pointing arrow on the road for the old Dorchester Road. No alternative as at the Football ground situation.and this roundabout has two lanes all the way round - simpler and safer.

Why is it that these two large and important roundabouts have such different lane markings?

TERRY PUTNAM

Springfield Road

Weymouth