I’m from the UK where in general there’s only a stop sign if it’s needed, such as a junction where you can see absolutely nothing on one side. Otherwise usually there’s a give way line instead, to let people slow the car right down to look, but not need to stop if it’s unnecessary.
Whenever I see a video of an American street, it seems like there’s a stop sign everywhere I’d expect there to be a give way line. Surely this is inefficient as stopping and starting increases emissions, and stops the flow of traffic.
Is it really just the American government doesn’t expect drivers to look properly? Is it so the police can give people tickets for not quite stopping but still doing the junction completely safely?
Licensing is very different state to state apparently. My final driving test involved driving for an hour, and the parking section was more than just parallel parking (tho I feel like if you can parallel park you can do pretty much any type of parking).
Things have changed a lot in my state since I got my license. When my kids were getting their licenses, PA had changed to requiring 65 hours driving in multiple different conditions before you could take the test.
Unfortunately, it’s essentially on the honor system. The parent signs a form at the driver license center, and that’s it. However, I took my kids out driving and tracked the time. Hitting 65 hours isn’t easy, though. It’s a lot of driving. With my daughter, she had her learners permit when the pandemic started, and I no longer had time to take her out. We renewed her permit twice, then hired a driving school to finish her training.
When my dad got his license in 1954, he took the written test and passed, then immediately took the driving test and passed, all in one DMV visit. Of course, he had been stealing his dad’s car and going on joyrides for years, so he already had experience driving ;-)
If you wait two extra years until you are 18 you don’t need to bother with any of the required hours or waiting period.