American drove through UK's infamous roundabout that's said to be impossible for Americans to understand
- This 6-in-1 UK roundabout is notoriously ‘impossible’ for US drivers
- The intersection has five small traffic circles, with a big one in the center
- It’s said it would cause a huge amount of crashes stateside
Published on Dec 26, 2024 at 12:00 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Nov 27, 2024 at 2:22 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This complicated six-in-one UK roundabout is notoriously ‘impossible’ for US drivers to tackle.
It’s said that it would cause a huge amount of crashes stateside.
The intersection comprises five small ones interconnected to a huge one in the center.
So what happened when one crossed the Atlantic and gave it a go?
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The story of the UK Magic Roundabout
Built in 1972, the Magic Roundabout is located at the busy intersection of County Road, Queen’s Drive, Fleming Way, Drove Road, and Shrivenham Road in Swindon, UK.
It consists of six roundabouts: five small ones swirling around a larger gyre in the center.
Frank Blackmore of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory designed it.
A huge amount of research went into it and making traffic flow around it as smoothly as possible.
Research from the 1970s suggested that smaller roundabouts improved traffic flow by 25 -35 percent more than larger ones by making routes across more direct and reducing the amount of time spent on it.
It started off with two two linked roundabouts, before steadily increasing to five.
In short, each mini-roundabout works like a regular one: simply adhere to lane markings and yield to \ traffic from the right.
However, US drivers seem completely perplexed.
How US drivers fare
TikToker, kalanighosthunter, doesn’t seem to be able to get over how difficult it was to navigate
“I don’t know what to say,” he enthused.
“I drove probably 10,000 miles in the span of a month over in the UK – so I’ve had to do my fair share of mileage – but the roundabouts!”
He continued: “They were all over the UK but the one in Swindon is special!”
On a similar note but on the other side of the Atlantic, this Clarksville, Tennessee version is so popular it has its own name and theme song.
In other news, this ‘selfish’ driver who uses the ‘slingshot’ method to bypass traffic circle divided the internet.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands, this new ‘protected intersection’ looks extremely confusing but actually makes sense.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
