Should we eliminate left-hand turns in the name of safety?

How late would you be if left-hand turns were illegal?

A professor at Penn State University says that left-hand turns are more dangerous than we think and believes they should be banned at select locations across the US.

Dr. Vikash Gayah says that more than 60% of traffic collisions at intersections involve left turns.

In an interview with "The Conversation," he explains that not only are they dangerous, but they are also very inefficient.

"When left-turning vehicles are waiting for the gap, they can block other lanes from moving, particularly when several cars are waiting to turn left.
Instead of a solid green light, many intersections use a green arrow to allow left-turning vehicles to proceed. But to do that, all other movements at the intersection have to stop. Stopping all other traffic just to serve a few left turns makes the intersection less efficient.

He adds that right turns are safer, explaining," they require merging into traffic, but they're not conflicting directly with traffic. So right turns are much, much safer than left turns."

The practice has already been implemented in some US cities. For example, in San Francisco, one busy intersection restricts left-hand turns during peak times.

Gayah says that even though eliminating left turns will add more time to the commute, it's still beneficial for fuel efficiency because of less stopping at intersections.

Feature image from Pexels by David McElwee