Left hand turns

I recently bumped into what claims to be an internal study from United Parcel Service. It seems to be legit.   Anyway, a left had turn is over 50x more likely to result in a wreck than a right had turn.  

To be sure, this concerns their vehicles that are mostly  delivery vans and trucks, but I suspect automobiles don’t fair much better.  Of course, running with the stats, they are advising multiple right hand turns rather than a single left hand turn.

I've never read the accident study, but there are many studies showing the fuel savings for planning the trip to avoid left turns.  Something like 10 to 30% fuel economy depending on the study.  


We tried it on some of our regular travels, and it works ro about 20% savings in our local traffic.

Another interesting tidbit from the United States Postal Service.

They have a "No Backing Up" rule. According to their data, they saw something like ten backing up accidents PER DAY (across the coutnry) when delivering mail/packages. They try and limit their drivers from being in situations where they have to reverse.

John, I have heard that analysis in driver training coursework.... for our voluble teen
That's why Portugal and other nations use roundabouts for efficiency and safety.....lots of right turns and merging.  Red lights are ridiculous in comparison

One view in Viseu

There is a national effort to use roundabouts in this country…on a personal level, I don’t like them ….but I suspect it is me needing to adjust. The fact is roundabouts eliminate left hand turns and force a reduction in speed. Those two points alone should reduce accidents.

On a lighter level, this past Tuesday I was speaking with a gentleman who just got back from eastern Montana (I think), anyway in the middle of nowhere he encountered two roundabouts. No other cars in sight ….no nearby community ….just open space.

That's interesting about roundabouts being stuck in the middle of nowhere in Montana. I always picture them as an urban phenomenon.

When it comes to personal driving, I can't remember who mentioned the efficiency of right hand turns in the gas saving thread, it might have been r. ransom.  Anyways I don't know if it actually saves me gas but I've started turning right out of my local grocery store and going the longer way through the neighborhood just because I get so tired of having to turn left across a busy road. Whether it saves gas or not, it actually does reduce some stress.  

And I can definitely see left hand turns causing more accidents. People are trying to squeeze their cars through narrow little gaps between lots of other fast moving cars.  Right hand turns are more relaxed across one lane of traffic instead of 4 or 5.  

And I HATE backing up.  Not sure how to eliminate that out of my life.  For a brief time my husband was backing into our driveway. Maybe the thought was that it's actually a little safer to back into a driveway where you know there are no other vehicles than backing out into the street.  But our street is sleepy enough that I've never adopted this practice.

Carmel, Indiana is the roundabout capital of the United States with more than 160 roundabouts.

https://www.carmel.in.gov/311/Carmel-is-the-roundabout-capital-of-the-

Calgary, Alberta, Canada has 55 roundabouts.

Roundabouts are an art form in Portugal!

Here's a recently completed one.



I did have to stop that naughty raven of mine donating the dented bumper to the project after the wild boar ran into it though...

Hi Anna,
 I generally back up only to turn around in my driveway.  In public parking I make a serious effort to park  where I can drive out of without backing.   I spoke with a safety person from  larger company a while back, he claims that in some areas drive through parking is encouraged AND back in parking is encouraged.  If so this is a huge jump in practice. Not too long ago back in parking was being discourage and even prohibited.

The logic of the in parking is that one does not have to back out into traffic.

Anna Hutchins wrote:That's interesting about roundabouts being stuck in the middle of nowhere in Montana. I always picture them as an urban phenomenon.

We have been able to see all of the roundabouts being installed in our area in both rural and urban settings.  With the exception of those being built in new developments, nearly all others are being installed in historically 'problem' intersections, where many accidents had occurred.  I'm getting accustomed to them now and am grateful for the ones at intersections that I hated waiting at or navigating.  My wife spent a few years in Boston in the early 1970s and was accustomed to them from the get-go.

Hi John,

About a week ago I ran into an article that claimed the first traffic circles were in Missouri.   Obviously the author had never been in New England. Of course, many town squares are  traffic circles.

John F Dean wrote:Hi Anna,
 I generally back up only to turn around in my driveway.  In public parking I make a serious effort to park  where I can drive out of without backing.   I spoke with a safety person from  larger company a while back, he claims that in some areas drive through parking is encouraged AND back in parking is encouraged.  If so this is a huge jump in practice. Not too long ago back in parking was being discourage and even prohibited.

I am glad to hear that! I got a ticket once for pulling through in a parking lot. It really really irked me. It does seem like the safer thing to do.

I put over 100k miles in the saddle riding a motorcycle, mostly in urban settings.  I can tell you as a rider, the left hand turn is the most dangerous aspect of riding two wheels.  I don't remember the statitics, but people turning left in front of motorcycles account for a majority of serious accidents on motorcycles, mostly because: "I never saw him".  Turning left across oncoming traffic is akin to walking in front of a line of targets on a live fire range.  The odds of catching a bullet go up dramtically compared to walking behind the fireing line.

Hi Jack,

And, by size of the vehicle alone, the turn signals and stop signals on a motorcycle are smaller than they are on a car.  

Hi Anna,

Parking lots are interesting things for a variety of reasons.  In the case of privately owned parking lots, the ability of the police to issue tickets seems to vary by state.

UPS acted on heir study in 2004.  Besides the accident reduction they claim to have saved 10 million gallons of fuel.

In case anyone is wondering, think of a truck waiting in heavy traffic to make a left hand turn.   Now consider a driver having his/her delivery route mapped out in advance to minimize left hand turns.

Anna Hutchins wrote:
And I HATE backing up.  Not sure how to eliminate that out of my life.  For a brief time my husband was backing into our driveway. Maybe the thought was that it's actually a little safer to back into a driveway where you know there are no other vehicles than backing out into the street.  But our street is sleepy enough that I've never adopted this practice.

I much prefer reversing onto my drive. It's a tight fit, so it's easier to push the dumb wheels in with the controllable ones. And when pulling out, I get a better view of any pedestrians and other vehicles. Especially when it's frosty weather.
Reversing down a cul-de-sac saves manouvering at the bottom, where it's often tight with parked cars. Delivery vehicles have poor rear visibility.

In the UK, we favour left handers. Logically it's faster to turn that way than to often wait to turn the other. So we plan a delivery route anti-clockwise, and in theory get the extra left turn in.
Others prefer night driving..