If the ways of the Lord are truly inscrutable, they must look something like this tangled roundabout in the English town of Swindon.
Until 1972, when road engineer Frank Blackmore came up with an elegant (and inexpensive to implement) solution for the traffic puzzle involving five directions converging at point A, this notorious intersection was known for frequent accidents.
Initially, the new road markings were so intimidating to motorists that a traffic officer had to be stationed at the center of each of the five small circles. Soon, drivers calmed down, realizing that it was merely five regular mini-roundabouts, each to be navigated one at a time without thinking about the others.
The final touch to the markings of the “Magic Roundabout” (the official name of the intersection) was added in 1999. After studying the statistics, it was found that most local accidents were caused by cyclists and motorcyclists, so these two-wheeled entities were given their own bypass road.
However, despite the guaranteed safety of this roundabout, when you drive through it for the first time, you will be so anxious that the unfamiliarity and tension might even sober you up a bit.