If You've Been Injured, You Need Strong RepresentationCall Paige J. Donnelly, Ltd.

If You've Been Injured, You Need Strong Representation Call Paige J. Donnelly, Ltd.

How could reducing left turns make your journey safer?

On Behalf of | Aug 14, 2024 | Car Accidents

If you are like most people, you probably have a few set routes that you use to certain places. For example, you usually travel a particular route to get to work, and another to get to your mom’s.

While you might alter these routes when traffic is heavy, you probably stick to the ways you know best most of the time. Research suggests that you might be better off altering your standard routes altogether.

Turning left carries more risk than turning right

You might not give much thought to how you first arrived at a particular route. However, it is unlikely you consciously sat and calculated it based on the number of turns in each direction. But maybe you should have.

Research shows that 61% of vehicle crashes occur when someone is making a left turn. By cutting down on the number of left turns you make in your journeys, you can make them safer. While you could do it for all routes, starting with the ones you drive the most will reap the most benefit.

What makes left turns more dangerous

The reason lefts are more dangerous than rights is that you need to turn across the flow of traffic, whereas, on a right turn, you simply leave the flow of traffic you are already in.

Won’t it take much longer?

Replacing your left turns with right ones might make your route longer, but it won’t necessarily make it slower. Think about how much time you often need to spend waiting for a gap in the traffic to make a left turn. There is no such delay on right turns, you just filter off.

While taking such measures can increase your safety, it can never guarantee it. You remain at the mercy of other drivers. If one of them injures you, you will need to learn more about your options for compensation.