The Case Against Left-Hand Turns

The left-hand turn is an essential skill that we all must master. However, learning how to avoid left-hand turns may be equally important. To make the case, we’ve rounded up a few interesting, and frightening, facts about turning left:

• 53.1% of crossing-path crashes involve left turns. Only 5.7% involve right turns.
• According to a study by NYC transportation planners, left-hand turns are 3X more likely to cause a deadly crash involving a pedestrian than right-hand turns.
• 36% of fatal motorcycle accidents involved a vehicle turning left in front of a motorcycle. Considering that nearly half of motorcycle accidents are single-vehicle (meaning the rider was the only one involved), that 36% is quite a significant number.

These statistics are often considered when city planners hit the drawing board. Many transportation systems use round-abouts to avoid the left-turn problem, while others are considering the more innovative “diverging diamond interchanges“.

Whether or not your own city has developed solutions to the left-turn dilemma, you can always use the old “three rights makes a left” maneuver when navigating through high-traffic and pedestrian-heavy areas such as downtown. In fact, this method can improve time and efficiency when the streets are especially congested.