[jedberg]

I've been driving in America for over 30 years and while I've seen them occasionally, they are very rare. And when I do see them, almost no one understands how they are supposed to work (go slowly until you know there is no one already there). They basically either don't slow down at all or stop like a stop sign.

It's not really covered when we learn how to drive. We get maybe a page on it in the handbook and one question on the driver's test. And then the road test almost never has one since they are so rare.

[eropple]

Your post as a sibling to mine cracks me up. It really underlines how different road design is in the Northeast to the rest of the country; I can hit four roundabouts to go three towns over if I picked my route to avoid the highway, and probably see another additional yield along the way. And it was one of the most important things drilled into us (Maine) during our driving lessons and exam, where we were taught “default to stop unless you know you’re clear”.

[rootusrootus]

Not just northeast. GP is talking from their own narrow perspective. I've driven all over the country, and roundabouts (as well as yields) are common in some places and nonexistent in others. GP just seems to have a narrow experience.

[eropple]

Totally, they're elsewhere too! I was remarking more that in New England they're pretty universally How You Do Things, and it falls off pretty drastically once you get out of NY and PA.

[pests]

Decently common in Metro Detroit. Few in my neighborhood and we also have a lot of boulevards which sometimes will have yields at every turnaround.

[badpun]

That would explain why there are so many stop signs in the US suburbs on intersection with excellent visibility and little to moderate traffic (at least, that's what I see in US movies). Must be super annoying to drive through. Where I live (Poland), stop signs are an exception, used only in circumstances where a mere yield sign is deemed too unsafe.