Is This 'Magic' Roundabout Made of 5 Mini-Roundabouts?

[nickcw]

I have driven round the similar roundabout in Hemel Hempsted many times

https://maps.app.goo.gl/hdU8g6mS2eAv4GgRA

It looks scary, but you just treat each mini-roundabout as a normal roundabout and you'll be fine. We had some visitors from the US who weren't very used to roundabouts and they managed the magic roundabout no problem!

When traffic is heavy (common on that roundabout in peak times) you can choose which way you go round it which is useful in avoiding congestion.

Edit: I just noticed on google maps it is rated as a tourist attraction with an average rating of one star :-)

[sparsely]

There's also one in High Wycombe. https://www.google.com/maps/place/High+Wycombe,+UK/@51.62697...

[Breadmaker]

>the roundabout was voted the seventh most feared road junction in the country.

Fear is undervalued as a road safety measure :-)

[CalRobert]

Making drivers uneasy is often the best way to improve safety. Narrow lanes, in particular, help a good deal. https://www.wri.org/insights/bigger-isnt-always-better-narro...

[HarryHirsch]

Yes - the effect is seen when they improve visibility at road junctions in a effort to increase safety. Before, everyone approached the uncertain situation slowly. Afterwards, they rush head-on into collisions.

[JoeAltmaier]

Overhead view is complex, sure. The only view that matters is thru the windshield. If the driver knows at every point where to go next, then it works fine. All about signage and lanes and signals.

[clan]

I used to agree. But people are creatures of habits. There is a well-known "large" roundabout near Copenhagen often called the IKEA roundabout. Obviously next to IKEA but still so known that it has a "popular" name. It has large overhead signs. On road signage. Traffic and street lights. The overhead signs show that you should take the left most lane to go left. Two middle lanes for straight ahead. And a breakout lane to the right which goes right. It is all very easy to understand and logical. But the number of lanes and the fact it is so busy it is regulated with traffic lights makes people very uncomfortable. As I find it very logical and easy to navigate I have come to my own conclusion that it is because this type of roundabout is unusual and uncommon around here. You will notice peoples lizard brain set in. They are scared they cannot exit so they clearly choose the outer-most of the 2 straight ahead lanes. And dangerous situations when people who needs to go left take the outer lane because you can "always" do that in a roundabout (but not here!). And for further anecdotal evidence this has come up several times in conversations and people have stated they do not like it.

You can see it here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jr39hNie4d9fennq7

[Mordisquitos]

Indeed. In fact, one could argue that a roundabout itself adds no complexity to the rules of the road. A roundabout can be understood simply as a one-way road that has priority over traffic which is joining it, which must give way (="yield" [en_US]) to vehicles already on it.

The fact that this one-way road eventually goes full-circle and connects back onto itself is inconsequential.

[ghaff]

There's one roundabout between me and Boston that gets very congested at rush hour and I commuted into on and off for about 18 months. It was obvious when school started up because the backups got way worse--partially more cars I assume but presumably you also had a lot of people who just weren't used to the traffic patterns. It tended to get better (though still awful) again after a few weeks.

ADDED: (One) problem with Route 2 is that it's an arterial highway that was never designed to be one. Especially to the west, the merges are also terrible at peak times. And (although there was one major upgrade a number of years back) it passes through some of Boston's tonier suburbs which makes major changes hard.

[RandomBacon]

It also doesn't help that someone is adding visual complexity to the picture by the dim duplicate extensions on the side (what is that called?). There may be times where that feature is useful, but this is definitely not one of those times.

[kibwen]

As long as you aren't a cyclist, that is. Separated bike lanes? Never heard of 'em...

[moritzruth]

And of course, Tom Scott has made a video about it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D22BOOGbpFM

edit: fixed a typo

[swarnie]

Swindon on HN; never thought I'd see it.

Back in the 2000s most driving test routes did cross this roundabout at least once, sometimes multiple times so most people growing up there don't understand the internets confusion by it all.

Look right, drive forwards, stop at the give way lines.

(If you couldn't figure this out you admitted you probably shouldn't be driving and booked your test in Cirencester instead)

[rob74]

It's probably more confusing for people who drive on the right (which is the majority of the world's population).

What I don't get however: is there really so much traffic there that a single big roundabout wouldn't work? I mean, it apparently works in other places (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Charles_de_Gaulle#/media...), although that is scary as well...

[poooogles]

>Cirencester instead

Hey. Some of us chose Chippenham instead.

I honestly don't really understand what the fuss is with it, just keep looking right and drive forward when you're free to. It makes so much more sense than multiple stop signs where each side takes it in turn.

[Symbiote]

The junction is named after a 1960s-1970s children TV series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3DcChXNyYQ

[nickt]

Which itself has a fascinating backstory

https://www.absoluteveryfirsttime.com/post/magic-roundabout

[nickt]

Auto Shenanigans on YouTube recently posted a video about this

https://youtu.be/DAFQZwR157E

He finds a bunch of little known and mildly interesting things about the UK road network.

[DrBazza]

The Savoy Hotel entrance is the only (??) place in the UK where we drive on the right.

[jccalhoun]

I can't imagine how people in my midwestern USA state would react to this. My small college shares an entrance with a middle school and they put a roundabout in a couple years ago. Except when parents are picking up or dropping off their kids it is very low traffic with very clear visibility. I still see people regularly not know how to use it. People stopping in the middle of it to let people in and stopping at the yield sign when it is obvious that there is no other car anywhere near it.

[ghaff]

There's a certain familiarity factor to using roundabouts and add to that the need for a certain level of trust that other people aren't going to do something stupid. As I wrote elsewhere, there's a clear difference at a busy roundabout I'm familiar with when school gets back in and there are presumably a lot of parents driving it who aren't familiar with it given that big roundabouts in particular aren't common around where I live.

[throwup238]

> I can't imagine how people in my midwestern USA state would react to this.

Abject horror. It’s an Eldritch monster as imagined by a civil engineer. A roundabout like that would turn me into a misanthropic agoraphobe, never to see the light of day outside the safety of my own abode ever again.

[blibble]

probably something like this: https://youtu.be/9TnGjq9mWSI?t=235

(this is tounge-in-cheek, but some people in the UK do genuinely find double mini-roundabouts terrifying)

[sbuk]

I learned to drive in Swindon, and went round that roundabout more time that I care to think. Ironically, I failed my first test at a roundabout. Make of that what you will!

[erremerre]

I have driven quite a lot of time through there, and it is very useful junction, if there is a path with traffic, you can just take another part with less traffic to go to the same exit.

Because preferences on the way it goes (mini roundabouts do not have roundabout preference, but you need to give preference to your right) you can break the preference and take advantage.

Which usually helps because if there is a main path of traffic, minor paths can't enter into the junction.

[empath-nirvana]

There is a horrific intersection in northern virginia that really needs to be replaced with something like this, but they'd have to change the name of the town.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/seve...

[benwerd]

I've driven this. It's really not as bad as it seems, although that's a high bar, and I was screaming the entire time.

[mysterydip]

The biggest surprise here for me is snopes is still going.

[3ds]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England, is a ring junction constructed in 1972 consisting of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. Located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C., its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. In 2009, it was voted the fourth-scariest junction in Britain.

[WithinReason]

There is one for 6 roads:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Hemel_Hempst...