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And then the other penny dropped: in the US, you're supposed to read the words in the order you drive over them, not as you see them. Yikes, how weird is that, I thought. But then, our way probably seems just as weird to US drivers.
Actually, no. I, personally, have always found it weird reading in that order.

Then there's the trick with the circles... I don't know about anywhere else, but around here, if you have three words in a circle, you're supposed to read the middle word last (or is it first...?) The most common case is automatic doors, which come with signs to tell you to watch out because the door might open by itself. So, they take the most important word, caution, and put it in the middle (along the horizontal diameter of a circle). Then they take the explanation and put it on top and bottom (around the circle). Makes sense, sort of, but you end up with:

Automatic
CAUTION
Door

At which point I scratch my head, think about it for a bit, and decide that it's really cool that they've somehow managed to make a door which is automatically cautious in nature.

Of course, come to think, I've had trouble with a lot of other US signs.

Sign:
NO LITTERING
$50 FINE

Me: Oh. Hmm. So, uh, what happens if you do litter?

Sign: DO NOT PASS

Me: Huh? Okay, that's odd. What's that supposed to mean? Clearly, it's okay that we just went zipping past it. I mean, why would they put a permanent sign like that next to a perfectly good road? Better not ask Mom. She'll just give me that look again, and then I'll have to explain that I'm serious, and then she'll laugh... <sigh> Okay, you can figure this out. It's supposed to be clear. There's another one. Look around... Ah-ha! We're coming up to a curve, and the yellow line just went from dashed to solid. There's only one lane in either direction, so... OH!

I guess I have trouble with signs everywhere...

Paul, who had forgotten about alt-Rimmer rotflol

When in doubt, think about penguins. It probably won't help, but at least it'll be fun.