Voted the fourth scariest junction in Britain, as well as the world’s worst junction by a motoring magazine and an insurance agency, the Magic Roundabout in Swindon would be the last place a student driver would want to take a driving test. A daunting concept to any motorist, the roundabout is designed with a large circle in which traffic flows in a clockwise direction and five mini roundabouts that all travel in a counterclockwise direction. The design was created to find a way to connect the five roads meeting at the junction.
Because of its experimental design in 1972, each mini roundabout had a police officer stationed there to ensure that drivers could safely traverse the layout. Despite fears of collisions, the design has actually proven to reduce accidents, as traffic is forced to move too slowly for any significant damage to occur. In an attempt to come up with a better layout, it was found that the existing design, however intimidating it appears, is the safest and most logical way to move traffic through the intersection.