The Magic Roundabout

[FreeAsInFreeBeer]

I would hate to do my road test in this town, lol. :P

[Bittkowski]

Germans would get totally lost.

[SafedriverN]

My (only half joking) advice on how to do this roundabout is to look as though you've got your eyes closed. Everyone else avoids you - they are going slow enough and are scared (or expert) enough to give you a clear path.

[SafedriverN]

Been there - done that (minus the music) !

Even taught L drivers how to use it. Did you know .... every night at 2.05am precisely all the little roundabouts replicate and their clones rush off up the M5 to infect the rest of the UK. Ask the duty firemen!

[Sheboobellach]

great song btw, it fits the video. strangely enough.

[Sheboobellach]

And I thought the calming circles in Winnipeg were bad, this is just absurd.

[Kopites88]

I would have died...

[shmuli9]

The one in Hemel Hempsted is very similar, but once in it, it's farily easy to navigate.

[COVENTRYSUCKS]

Try driving in Milton Keynes, theres' loadsa roundabouts there!!

[shmuli9]

@COVENTRYSUCKS Indeed! Though I like roundabouts, there are really too many on the Portway and on Child's Way...

[StaticAssassin]

Anyone else see the learner driver? lul

[itsdamo1993]

You know the funny thing is a normal round a bout would've worked better.

[EroThraX]

@itsdamo1993 This roundabout has better traffic flow and a better safety record then normal roundabouts.

[dovatony]

I went through it a year ago. Since I'm American, being on the left side of the road was awkward enough, but this thing scared the crap out of me.

[Misterwhalley88]

That is one fucked up peice of road, I drove through it a few years ago and just got totally confused.

Whoever designed that must have been drinking brake fluid or something

[zephenxd147]

I drive this all the time just keep looking right and if ur going to town from queens drive, it's middle, middle, left. :)

[L1SE19]

@zephenxd147 What if you're going from Town to Queens drive?

[zephenxd147]

@L1SE19 left middle middle lol

[Dielze]

@L1SE19 it's easy!!

[brokenvoice1]

it aint hard all you have to do is take one at a time and dont worry about whats going on to your left, but im not botherd about crashing my peace of shit car

[rgur90x]

lol that thing sure is a mess

[Potoodle]

I would love to see Bendy-buses tackle that...

[arnauddendy]

Just got back from England. (to Phoenix AZ)  - second day of driving there my husband finds the Magic Roundabout. I read the sign and he did not believe me. He says, "There's no such thing as a aaaaagh!" and in we went. There were A LOT of cars on it at the time. They all seemed aimed right at us. We got out alive and without damaging the renter! We laughed for fifteen minutes. One of our favorite authentic English experiences! Don't know what else is in Swindon but this road is a hoot!

[MLeyden91]

Haha I live near swindon, and I still dread going on this roundabout!

You guys have Six Flags to frighten the life out of you, we have the British road network.

[arnauddendy]

Well, we don't have to go to amusement parks. Check out the Santa Monica Interchange on google images. Most of our big cities have these "bowl of spaghetti" interchanges which are negotiated at 50-80 mph (depends on who's driving and where the cops are.) And, generally, we're not so polite of drivers as the British are. A British friend of mine chickened out when I let him drive my car in LA. (He kept "floating" onto the "wrong" lane anyway....) A roundabout here could mean death!

[supeerme]

we got one in Hemel Hampstead.

[somekid93229]

dang looks hard

[b11l]

that's good that there aren't any trams crossing... it's really confused, if i would ever get to this roundabout i won't know how to pass it. crazy place...

[Cyclone718]

what a pointless video =|

[PinkyJoker]

If you cant do the magic roundabout then you aren't a very good driver, its easy.

[wildhunter666]

music? greetings from port talbot

[snozdog]

Got a little confused there aye? lol. And nice lane changing on zig zag lines at the start :P Swindons an arse to drive through but the best place to learn. Nice video.

[gloucesterharry]

We went to see forest green rovers play swindon in the fa cup a couple of years ago. I was driving the truck for the first time and we got lost and ended up at the magic roundabout.

So I had been driving for about 6 months, was put in a massive land cruiser for the first time and had to negotiate the magic roundabout.

"go there, no there, no right, SHIIIIIT!"

[Jeffgoalie]

that looks confusing! but soo cool!!

[filiprogue]

OMFG.

[Nashvin1]

I go through this every monday to friday

and not one accident so far :D

[craze4lyf]

i live in swindon and have recently started learning to drive ive been over this rounadabout quite a few times, its quite easy and not as confusing as people think.

when it was built in 1972 there use to be a policemen on each roundabout to make sure people were using to properly but they decided to put give way signs and lines on it instead.

[reddwarfers]

I feel sorry for the learner at 0:34 !

[shaunswindon]

same i have to fo throgh this

[THEFILMDOOPER]

go through there everyday infact im going through there tommoro, its basically five mini roundabouts packed into one great big one lol!

[dingodile555]

What's so magic about it

[columbusmozart]

It's 6 interlocking roundabouts in one giant roundabout. It's also a play on the children's programme of the same name.

[thorpsy]

The song playing is Paris to Berlin Infernal.

I'm not sure what Digg is, but cool. Well to be honest it's scary enough driving round it, let alone flying lol

[boccie]

I just found this on Digg, and I personally thought that it would have been better if this would have been an bird-eye's view.

[Ryeker]

What song are you playing?

it's pretty addictive

[wimpie25]

They never considered to make just one big roundabout as normal countrys would do. I mean the arc de Triomphe in Paris is working too and they don't even use lanes on that thing.

[luu9476]

xDD i know! they just have to be different! the metric system, the currency, driving on the left, and now the roundabouts! xD nothing wrong about it, i just wonder why. anyway, when i first went to paris and drove around the arc de triomphe i was like "HOW CAN THEY SURVIVE THIS EVERYDAY?!" they could use lanes...

[wimpie25]

There ARE lanes but only faintly visible.

[kelticrip]

swindon miss that town went back to america long story went to greendown kids were bad only has 1 more year to graduate now its 2 here in america.

[luu9476]

now i understand why god put the english in an island of their own xD kidding

[wimpie25]

Actually, you're right.

[Varsher]

I was driving in Swindon a few years back, stopped by the side and just looked at cars using this thing. No matter how many years I've driven there's no way I was going to go on that thing, it's crazy!

[gorgydan]

thats when i would totally avoid that intersection

[breaktrac]

you try figuring out which way to go to go left unless you live there which will probably make it easy

[LilithFilth]

So that's Swindon. I love you guys' accent! :)

[Badb01]

I thought the first magic roundabout is in Hemel Hempstead?

[Maxmulham]

The Europeans seem to listen to the worst music. All I hear on youtube when they're drving is pop and soft crap. Whatever happened to Zepplin?

[Chapstick050]

exactly

[Maxmulham]

Rock on man! seriously this stuff is shit though.

[kuma982]

you must be workless?!

[brokk2]

LOOOOOL. Just turn off that shit... that music sucks

[PaulPower4]

"Danse Macabre" would have been a better tune :p

[worMatty2]

Bloody hell.

[DCDmalta]

I have my test around that cunt today.

[wallr]

wat was dat, u just wasted 68seconds of my life

[BiliousTrumpstaine]

.. i must add philly, that this roundabout almost makes swindon unique.. if you look carefully at the road signs aproaching the roundabout they look like a quaballistic symbols.. the devil lives in swindon.. and aparently parties at the bedroom pub in the town centre.. cos thats where its at.

[Gobobo24]

I flew through that round-a-bout years ago without any problems at all. Mind you I did have my eyes closed...

[kinstar]

yeh i heard about this magic round aabout fuck me that shit looked confusing

[greavesfolk]

Good work, love the surprise ending!!!

[johnnwhite]

anyway you like, give way to the right!

[Dementedhighlander1]

Come to Hemel Hempstead we have a magic roundabout too!

[TheRealShadowspawn]

Roundabout? In America we call them circles.

There ya go again, adding additional syllables, like with aluminum.

[sharktamer]

You spelt aluminium wrong.

[phd007]

not wrong at all, since american english quotes that matter as aluminum.

[wimpie25]

The official latin form is aluminium, hell we even say aluminium in dutch. The american english form is not wrong, its just not completly right.

[Bullring1]

are we adding them or are you taking them away? we invented them...come to think of it we invented you....but let's not go into that.

[tarhun]

to be fair in the case of aluminum/aluminium, the American version came first. The guy that first identified it was french and he called it Aluminum. It was British chemists that decided to change it to "ium" to bring it in line with other elements that end in -ium.

[djdandman]

The American version came second. :)

I read it was loosely labelled "alumium" first.

But by the time it was defined/accepted by the scientists and published in the journals, it was aluminium.

Aluminum remains as a term used by those who didn't get the memo.

[hughtub]

If they ever do another Naked Gun movie, they should use Swindon's roundabout.

[asahiko]

This vid made mi dizzy... (@_@

[xlaurax1612]

*sigh* only in swindon LOL

[chazkim]

Seeing the learner driver crossing in front of you was pretty funny. Nice to catch a glimpse of The County Ground as well. Poor old STFC.

[Glennz995]

In ur face we have the worlds best round about what dus oxford have, a live in the past university. ther are billions of unis these days that are better than oxford!

[negligiblepond]

... and I'll bet you couldn't get into any of them.

[Bullring1]

i love you!

[PHILLYNOTT1]

at last a swindon lover

[dblissmn]

Paris to Berlin accompanying the Magic Roundabout? Surely some irony there.

For all those mystified by how this thing works, simply go to google and type Swindon Magic Roundabout wiki, and you'll get the hang of it. If any US state tries to put one of these things in, however, I'll sue; drivers here can't handle it.

[OscardR]

horrible music by the way

[PHILLYNOTT1]

yeh should of playedThe Boys Are Back In Town.

[brentjohnpalmer]

Or "English Roundabout" by XTC

[ElvenDane]

So do people ever get lost in these extreme roundabouts for several days ? ;-)

[BiliousTrumpstaine]

What a fucking dump swindon is... this roundabout is the most interesting bit. most of the locals just drive straight across this unique testament to the road planners spliff habits...

[quwers]

I could say the same about where you come from. If you bought a honda civic in europe then it was made at the swindon plant.

[TheAmazingSealo]

Swindon is a fucking dump... at least I'd assume so not much to compare it to I've lived here my whole life...

[Bullring1]

Swindon is an awful awful place. But u know what........i dnt know where im going with this....probably honda...

[BiliousTrumpstaine]

well i left a comment seven months ago on how much of a dump swindon is... i visited it again last week. its STILL a dump but now i look forward to the roundabout, its become a bizarre and perverse pleasure... hondas are rubbish cars buy a vauxhall...

[PHILLYNOTT1]

well every fucking town is a dump, i love Swindon.

[BiliousTrumpstaine]

no philly, swindon IS a dump. trust me i know.. i still love the roundabout though..

[quwers]

Why should we trust you. It's not as though you live their. You come from the US. I do, ish and love it. Their is everything you could reasonably ask for except a decent football team. Wait a minute. You don't know what footballis. Oh well.

[porters423]

fuck off u dickhead, how many times have you seen the whole of swindon?

[quwers]

Vauxhalls are some of the most cheap and tacky cars to buy. At least hondas are well built with those cool VTEC screemers.

[Maxmulham]

Vauxhall's rock. (Not all of them though). Honda's in Europe are okay. But in North America they are the perfect charachterless cheap shit boxes on the road today.

[quwers]

So are all the other cars in North America.

[whatthef55k]

What the fuck would you know about American cars limey twit. Limey cars are shoe boxes with wheels on them and crumple upon impact. Besides the way you assholes drive you need tanks.

[chrisswansea2]

That's because they're meant to crumple, its what stops the people getting smooshed. Moron.

[wimpie25]

Call it opel!

[calvinps]

Lol ^.^

[limeyosu]

I don't miss roundabouts at all this is the roundabout form Hell!!

[wrinehart]

what the hell is this?? roundabout.. never heard of such a thing, and this is craziness. We only have standard intersections in Texas.

[quwers]

what is a roundabout. Only a yank could have asked this question. The point off a roundabout is that you don't traffic lights and it doesn't get busy at quiet times.

[liam118118]

it relly isnt nyfink special!

[Jamiecfc]

i bet u got some looks lol

[SYKESY2006]

madnes good look neway jus seen it on the news so a signed on lol ha ha

[Zoeyb1987]

ah av put this on me Space. i allwuzz tell me Spazza mates bout it.however, seeing is believing. chuffed ya from Gy, me home town, aint i theee lucky un? started there and ended ere? you wuz in our Adver, talk o the town! me does the ole closing eyes, whip whop dive across, open at otha side. easy.

[parp30]

The magic roundabout is easy to use just got to watch the folk that freeze half way round lol

[thorpsy]

Hello there,

What news was that on? I'm all confused now lol

[djconners001]

Just see this on the news, thought as i see it every day anyway i would watch it online!

[GrumpyOwl]

Just read about this in The Sun, thought I'd check it out... Crazy, I wouldn't like that at rush hour :S

[Speedwaymad]

You've made the local paper here in swindon with your clip thorpsy! Looks to me like you picked a very quiet time to film this- rush hour mate, thats when the fun happens! On the whole i don't see the fuss about the Roundabouts- use your eyes and follow the signs. Easy. :)

[windflower62]

I stalled my car on this roundabout during my driving test, but still passed coz I followed the correct procedure! I also just sent this video to my partner who works in Saudi Arabia - to remind him of what he's missing!!

[porters423]

my house was on that video just thought you would like 2 know haha! and i dont think its that hard 2 use!

[pault107]

I had to negotiate the magic roundabout during my driving test. It actually works really well :-)

[dex123ter]

Negotiating looked a lot easier than I thought it would be. I've seen pictures of it, and it looks very confusing; maybe because where I live, in the southeast U.S., we have little experience with roundabouts. There are a few here and there but none like that. Wow! Congrats.

[thorpsy]

Thank you for leaving a message, I never thought that anyone as far away as the South East of the USA would look at our humble 'Magic Roundabout'.

England is the home of the roundabout, they come in every shap and size. I have to say most of the mini roundabout are easier to drive over the top of.

Chris

[wimpie25]

I was wondering how roundabouts look like in the US. Do you use Give Way signs?.

[thorpsy]

Well I wouldn't treat this as a typical roundabout Wimpie, this is one of a kind lol.

In general roundabouts are simple and work well.

We do have give way signs, although very few take any notice lol

[Raiju32]

US traffic circles are essentially that, a one or two laned circle with usually four lanes intersecting, each with a yield at the entrance.

The main problem Americans have with traffic circles is that they treat the yield sign more like a stop sign and end up screwing up the entire system.

[columbusmozart]

Essentially the same, we do use Yield (give way) signs at the entrances.

[wimpie25]

do you have sharks teeth too?

[columbusmozart]

If you mean painted rows of give way marks at the roundabout, then, yes.

[columbusmozart]

In fact, the link I gave you has a video of a roundabout in the US, you will immediately recognise it (with the exception of everything being in reverse (roundabout goes anticlockwise instead of clockwise)

[Sarah7984]

Smell of fish....living in Swindon..... I think I like it here a bit more now! Hehehe!

[Sarah7984]

I live here! *Cries*