I had to navigate this three times on my driving test back in 1988! Mind you, any learner driver from Swindon gets plenty of practice going through this junction before taking their test. Just keep giving way to the right and you’ll be fine.
I was living 100m from this roundabout when it was being built. They tried a number of designs before settling on this one. They would hold the traffic up at each entrance during the rush hour and then a bloke on a platform in the middle would blow a whistle and all the traffic would flood onto the roundabout. The most hair raising test I saw was when they tried just a small central island, acres of tarmac and zero marked lines. Drivers on the front row would accelerate hard to get across befire the traffic jam formed. Then they'd stop the traffic, let the chaos clear and do it again. That trial didn't last very long. It was named the Magic Roundabout because there was a popular kids TV show by that name on at the time and the wierdness seemed, well, wierd.
I LOVE this roundabout. when I first drove through Swindon at 19 my then husband thought it would be hilarious to put me through it. I was terrified but I survived. The Swindon folk say, close your eyes and pray. I've now used it for many, many years and it is an amazingly safe roundabout.
Even Brunel would have been proud of this simple but clever design, it only stops working when the roundabout is gridlocked, but there again everything stops when gridlocked.
I have lived in Swindon for 20 years and never heard of the Magic Roundabout before that. I love it - it keeps traffic moving, I’ve never experienced a traffic jam there. I don’t find it that intimidating at all you just take it a step at a time. As my driving instructor once said about the ‘infamous’ Clockhouse roundabout in Farnborough - it’s just a roundabout!
It's actually extremely simple once you realise you shouldn't try to keep track of the whole thing but instead just your surroundings.
No wonder they only had one fatal accident in 5 years. No one can move fast enough to kill anyone.
Best thing to do would be coming from a place where you drive on the right and then go to this roundabout :)
As part of Brittain's ongoing battle to eliminate traffic, they have decided to simply force all drivers into untimely graves.
“Magic” here refers to the kind of mushrooms the engineers ate before sitting down at this design.
If they tried this in America, within one hour of opening there would be a 27-way collision.
If they made one of these in USA... they'd be a mountain of piled-up cars in the middle within ten minutes...
I had to navigate this three times on my driving test back in 1988! Mind you, any learner driver from Swindon gets plenty of practice going through this junction before taking their test. Just keep giving way to the right and you’ll be fine.
If you look closely there is a pedestrian standing on the island in the center.. He's been there two years.
Fun to pick an approaching vehicle at random and track it on its journey through this
I can say I have used this junction.
I was living 100m from this roundabout when it was being built. They tried a number of designs before settling on this one. They would hold the traffic up at each entrance during the rush hour and then a bloke on a platform in the middle would blow a whistle and all the traffic would flood onto the roundabout. The most hair raising test I saw was when they tried just a small central island, acres of tarmac and zero marked lines. Drivers on the front row would accelerate hard to get across befire the traffic jam formed. Then they'd stop the traffic, let the chaos clear and do it again. That trial didn't last very long. It was named the Magic Roundabout because there was a popular kids TV show by that name on at the time and the wierdness seemed, well, wierd.
I LOVE this roundabout. when I first drove through Swindon at 19 my then husband thought it would be hilarious to put me through it. I was terrified but I survived. The Swindon folk say, close your eyes and pray. I've now used it for many, many years and it is an amazingly safe roundabout.
The good thing is that everyone seems to respect the speed limit because of the complexity involved.
We are visiting Swindon . Lost at the moment. When the Sat nav said go onto the Magic Roundabout I though it was taking the piss!!🧎♀️🙃😂😅
Number of cuts in this video: 3
I can see why we Americans might not like it , everyone here yields by pure instinct.
Even Brunel would have been proud of this simple but clever design, it only stops working when the roundabout is gridlocked, but there again everything stops when gridlocked.
it's pretty smart, especially because it makes it so that you don't have to circle the entire thing to go to the exit to the right of where you enter.
I have lived in Swindon for 20 years and never heard of the Magic Roundabout before that. I love it - it keeps traffic moving, I’ve never experienced a traffic jam there. I don’t find it that intimidating at all you just take it a step at a time. As my driving instructor once said about the ‘infamous’ Clockhouse roundabout in Farnborough - it’s just a roundabout!