This giant junction can allegedly reduce the number of motorway collisions by stopping cars from turning across oncoming traffic - but is it too complicated?
THIS giant motorway junction could help to reduce the number of traffic collisions - but is it too confusing?
Known as a diverging diamond interchange, the junctions are becoming more popular in the USA and parts of Europe as they are said to increase road safety.
While it may look like a messy web of lanes, the junction actually serves a simple purpose: to eliminate the need to turn across oncoming traffic.
For countries driving on the right, this means motorists don't have to turn left across lanes of traffic after exiting the main motorway.
According to research, this can reduce the number of fatal motorway crashes by as much as 60 per cent, and crash totals by more than 30 per cent.
And it seems the concept can be applied to those who drive on the left too, with one of the mass junctions planned for completion in Australia by 2020.
But despite the apparent benefits, the interchange could prove too complex for some drivers.
A clip from the Florida Department of Transportation shows a simulation of the largest of its kind in the US.
At its peak, the junction accommodates a whopping 12 lanes in a mass of interweaving highway.
Blocks of five lanes cross over each other twice, temporarily switching from right to left to accommodate exit lanes.
This continued flow of traffic means few traffic lights are required, but drivers do need to be stopped from blocking areas where two carriageways cross.
Regular users of the diverging diamond interchange on University Parkway allegedly claim it has reduced the amount of time they spend in traffic by 40 per cent.
While three are currently in use in France, there are no plans to introduce this kind of junction to the UK in the near future.
Late last year, we reported on a bizarre road crossing in Romania which was leaving drivers baffled.
