What the hell is C1 doing?

Ok, I'm trying not to be an 'ugly american', but the whole driving on the other side of the road doesn't seem to make a lick of sense. As you can see in the attached diagram, taking a right turn at a T intersection would require C1 to look to see what two cars are doing before engaging the turn. Alternatively, in the US, C1 would not be required to look at both cars in certain situations (like when they turn right, they only need to look at C3). Maybe I have no point - but the US system seems better. Or, maybe, as usual, i'm an idiot.