This $1.5M roundabout in Hungary goes and leads nowhere and the reason why is truly bizarre

There’s a totally random and very expensive roundabout in the middle of nowhere in Hungary.

It doesn’t go anywhere, and it doesn’t come from anywhre.

All four sides of it are dead ends.

And the reason why is there is not exactly noble.

Why Europe is obsessed with roundabouts

The notion of a roundabout is so foreign in the US that there isn’t even a US-specific word.

When it comes to traffic, there are three things that stand out when you’re from Europe and drive in the US for the first time.

One, the roads are bigger; two, you can generally turn right on red; three, there are no roundabouts.

I was recently in the US and the whole time I was there I saw one – just one – roundabout.

That’s one in 10 days. In Europe, you’d see 10 in one hour.

Yep, Europe is absolutely obsessed with them.

There are around 150,000-200,000 in Europe, and only 10,000+ in the US.

In theory, they are supposed to make traffic flow more smoothly.

In practice, that’s not always why they’re built.

And it also explains this absurd roundabout in Hungary.

The uncomfortable truth behind this random roundabout

Both EU countries and EU candidates receive subsidies from the European Union.

And it’s not peanuts, it’s millions.

There’s an old saying: ‘Politicians are all the same, they promise to build a bridge where there’s no river.’

Or, in Europe’s case, they’ll build a roundabout where there’s no road.

The thing is, building them is a quick and easy way for politicians of all sorts to spend funds without too much scrutiny.

That’s because these are ‘low-complexity’ projects that are easy to approve and fund than major highways or hospitals.

It goes without saying that some pennies out of those dollars end up in someone’s pocket.

That’s why there are so many roundabouts that appear to be a bit useless.

CNN reports that this particular roundabout, costing $1.5 million, was meant to serve a logistics hub.

Unfortunately, the container terminal that it was meant to link was never actually built.

If you want to go check it out, head to Google Earth and search for these exact coordinates: 46.8782496° N, 16.8773647° E.