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no Magic Roundabout for me

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I'm off to England in the morning. I'll be renting a car and driving -- with great trepidation -- around the countryside of southern England and Wales. I've driven before on the left side of the road -- in Ireland, years ago -- and I damaged the rental car because I had a helluva time steering from the right. Well, not the steering itself, per se, but getting used to being aware of the fact that there's a whole bunch of car to my left, which isn't usually the case. (I banged the left rear bumper into a signpost, because there shouldn't have been a bumper there.) I'm a totally confident driver, but when you're driving on the other side of the road from the other side of the car, all your instincts go out the window. It's very unnerving.

So I plan to avoid, if I can, anything that looks like this:

That's the "Magic Roundabout" in Swindon, and apparently it really is a miracle at relieving traffic congestion, but just looking at it gives me the willies.

I'll have more insurance this time, though, just in case...

5 Comments

Hell, when I was in London I couldn't even cross the damn street without almost getting hit (always looking the wrong direction for oncoming traffic). I applaud your courage.
Simple roundabouts got me. As long as it was the first exit off of it, I was fine. This one gives me the willies just looking at it... I was lucky, in that I had spent 3 years driving a right-handed car in the US before doing so in the UK. The wife only had to yell at me once that I was on the wrong side, and that was as I was pulling into a car park.
Wow, I mean, you have to admire the thought and creativity that went into that solution -- a roundabout within a roundabout. It's so cool! God forbid I should ever have to *drive* in it (I think I could actually handle it if it were flipped US-style - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Magic_roundabout_right_hand_traffic.png - but never the UK way), but great fun to look at from the sky!
When I was living in England I found out about this roundabout... that week-end a bunch of friend s decided to go. To our disappointment, the city of Swindon is really ugly, funnily the location for the British TV serie "The office". In line with our disappointment, the roundabout is less impressive from the ground that from the sky. Really complicated to drive through, but eventually you manage to get out. The best of all is by far the sign of it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Magic_Roundabout_Schild_db.jpg Also equally incredible is the secret bunker, which a friend of mine manage to visit by just following the signs. http://www.exec-comms.com/Pictures/Blog/secret_bunker.jpg
Juan, the UK Office is not set in Swindon. It's set in Slough. Which is probably even less appealing than Swindon (and I say that as someone who has lived in Slough for three years), but without a Magic Roundabout. I hope you're enjoying the prettier parts of England, MaryAnn

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I'm MaryAnn Johanson, writer and editor, and this is my scratch pad, idea-jotter-downer, portfolio and resume, and general hang-out blog.

• film/TV/pop culture critic at FlickFilosopher.com
• contributor, Film.com
• member, Online Film Critics Society
• member, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
• member, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

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