In my city in Norway, at least, there is never a traffic pattern where it's not either:

* a small roundabout with really clear pedestrian right of way marked * a pedestrian path that takes you over or under the road instead of crossing it

It's great!

> Why? This feels like it's assuming pedestrians share the street with vehicles, but besides the US and some other places, don't most "modern" countries have separate pavements/streets for pedestrians?

Surely this is a joke or just a flimsy pretext to imply that murka bad or whatever.

Even with a fully paved and sidewalked roundabout (or intersection of any other type) the more of a clusterfuck it is the less time and attention any given traffic participant has to give any other traffic participant is and this is where you get all the stupid "idiots trying to pass each other in a hallway" type misunderstandings and whatnot. It's just better for everyone if things aren't a clusterfuck.