[herenorthere]

>There's no way to optimize for minimizing left turns, especially onto busy streets.

Woah, I've never heard anyone else mention this problem. It sounds strange having it said "out loud" because I thought it was just a weird personal quirk/irritation of mine.

I have always wished there was a route option of "easy mode driving," or "no pressure route."

Often the "quickest" route google maps shows me is one that has some sort of difficult turn across multiple lanes going the other direction into a "suicide lane" or what have you.

Either that, of some sort of merging is necessary where you're basically at the mercy of other drivers letting you in (especially tough if you're not an aggressive driver like myself).

Honestly, some maneuvers give me a lot of anxiety, like when I'm on a very busy two lane road (no middle lane) and google is telling me to turn left, so I have to sit there with my blinker on feeling terrible for pissing off all the drivers that are now pilling up behind me, while I anxiously wait for an opening.

Unless Im late for something important, I'd gladly go 5 minutes or more out of my way not to experience that kind of driving pressure/social anxiety. I have a moderate anxiety disorder so I know this might not be normal.

But you're absolutely right! I suppose it does in fact boil down to just having a route option with "no left turns" -- I had never thought of it that way. That's such a simple way to solve 95% of the problem.

----

Edit: a left turn lane, with a green left turn light is totally fine.

Edit 2: For the handful of caring but misguided people scrutinizing my aversion for left turns:

>Federal data have shown that 53.1 percent of crossing-path crashes involve left turns, but only 5.7 percent involve right turns.

sauce: 2001 - Analysis of Crossing Path Crashes - NHTSA

[deathhand]

Fed ex avoids left turns - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/04/0...

[OnlineGladiator]

It's also a serious consideration for companies working on self-driving cars, as unprotected left turns are extremely difficult for the robots.

[ufmace]

Not too surprising if we think about it. At a significant number of unprotected lefts at busy intersections, you basically have to semi-aggressively pull out in front of oncoming traffic and rely on them to slow down for you in order to get through in a reasonable time. It's tough to automate that in a safe way. Especially if it involves fuzzy value judgements about whether those cars seem like they'll probably slow down for you.

[graeme]

Would be a great navigation mode for maps apps to add. No left turn or easy driving mode. If ups does it, why not others?

[aeyes]

That should just be the default routing unless it's absolutely unavoidable.

[herenorthere]

I think I read an article like this on HN a few months ago, ty for the share

[zymhan]

Waze has a setting to "Avoid difficult intersections".

[Sebguer]

This is one of the most relatable things I've ever read on this website.

[ronyeh]

I've mostly given up on unprotected left turns onto huge streets (El Camino Real in my part of the Bay Area).

I'd rather turn right and then take the next U-turn to get back to where I want to go.

It reduces my social anxiety of people piling up behind me as I want to turn left, and it reduces my perception (right or wrong) of risk. When I turn left, I need to alternate looking left and right. When I turn right, I mostly only need to look to my left (unless there is a biker going opposite traffic, which has happened to me!).

[pastage]

In many legislations you are supposed to cycle against the motortraffic, especially if there is a bikepath.

[InitialLastName]

Per this list of US state bicycle laws [0] (I don't have easy access to bicycle laws in other countries, so I can't attest to them), I don't see a single state that requires cyclists to ride against traffic. To the contrary, every single state (barring Illinois, which suggests that bicycles be treated as traffic but leaves direct enforcement up to individual municipalities) appears to require that cycles travel with traffic (see all references to "as far to the right as possible" in the "Where To Ride" sections).

[0] https://bikeleague.org/StateBikeLaws

[mindslight]

I don't have anxiety about busy turns or cars behind me, but I still roll my eyes at elective left turns and stop signs, because I can't see how they're expected to save time. I would believe it could work out if you do rolling stops, accelerate hard between stop signs, and perform left turns with narrow margins. But if you're not driving that way, many "shortcuts" seem utterly counterproductive.

[himlion]

Maybe it's vey niche, but I'd like an "avoid traffic lights" setting. On common routes for me you'd often be a lot faster by going 1 minute out of your way to prevent a potential 5 minute wait at a traffic light during rush hour.

[dsego]

Not strange at all. Roundabouts were invented to obviate left turns.

[Okkef]

Have you considered taking some driving lessons to become more assertive in traffic? You don't need to feel this way for a left-hand turn.

[pixl97]

You do, and you should feel that way for a left turn.

This is a behavior we normalize in a driving society. Being assertive as you turn left does nothing to reduce the impact of another car hitting you at 45 miles an hour (or even faster in more rural places).

>A study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) shows that turning left is one of the primary causes of automobile collisions. 61 percent of crashes that occur while turning or crossing an intersection involve left turns, as opposed to just 3.1 percent that involve right turns.

>https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/04/0...

[dsfyu404ed]

There's a line to be walked between his decently extreme opinion and your decently extreme opinion on left turns (yes, I know this is a potential middle ground fallacy). No you shouldn't barrel on into them but they're not as dangerous as your comment implies. As like most things driving as long as you have decent situational awareness they're fine.

[pastage]

Sadly no one is perfect, building roads that allow misstakes to safely be made is vital. See the road design vision of zero fatality. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

[herenorthere]

I just get some social anxiety when people back up behind me, or anytime I feel like my driving is "imposing" on others. I know it's somewhat irrational. But I doubt a driving lesson would help with my more general problem of social anxiety.

Anyway, I'd rather be this type of driver than an overly dense person who doesn't mind backing up traffic. The type of people that will go sideways blocking four lanes coming out of a gas station to get to the turn lane...

I learned to drive in a "defensive" manner. Yes, sometimes non-action can be more dangerous in a specific situation; but feeling bad about backing up traffic doesn't make me a bad driver. Just an socially anxious one.

I agree though, in the original comment, I probably made it sound worse than it actually is for me. I just wish google maps had this option. I would find driving more pleasant.

Edit: I made some edits, to clear up my response

[mleo]

I understand your point. I live right behind a three lane road that has left turn onto a street next to my house. You end up turning left across four lanes of traffic and you can’t always see the far lane. The far lane may not back up due to becoming a turn lane and cars are going faster thanks overall traffic. The city disallows left turns from 3-7pm, but I don’t make that turn if there is a modicum of traffic at any point in time. There is at least one accident a week there as people try to make that turn. Anytime traffic is red, it would be better for nav apps to reroute to safer turns.

[darkerside]

How long have you been driving? That feeling should go away with some time.

[herenorthere]

almost 20 years... so yeah I dont think it's going away. Being anxious about backing up traffic or the other things I described isn't that abnormal I don't think?

When Ive been a passenger, Ive seen most other drivers feel this way--whether they say it or not, you can see on their face they are feeling anxious.

[Moru]

Yes, we do exist but for someone that does not have a special problem can't see the problem. Many also have a problem with empathy, just can't think how that ever would be a problem.

[darkerside]

I definitely relate to the anxiety, but like I said, I've learned over time to control it. Much like stage fright (which I definitely have), I guess it's a situation where you can learn to operate. They are similar in that, other participants want you to succeed and are not judging you as much as you judge yourself. I think what I have learned is that, the less I judge others (on stage, or on the road) and the more empathetic and understanding I am, the less I am worried about others judging me.

[herenorthere]

I dont think it's necessarily a bad thing

[dsfyu404ed]

Yeah, "don't inconvenience anyone else" is a pretty good as far as simple driving strategies go.

[rootusrootus]

Agreed. It's a close cousin of my personal #1 driving safety strategy: "don't do anything surprising."

[darkerside]

Everyone on the road is inconveniencing everyone else all the time. I prefer the strategy of accepting it, rather than letting it bother me. I also don't judge others for inconveniencing me. We're all just trying to get to point B at the end of the day.

[toomuchtodo]

http://theconversation.com/why-ups-drivers-dont-turn-left-an... (Why UPS drivers don’t turn left and you probably shouldn’t either)