When you get in the car, is your number one priority simply to stay safe? You know that there are thousands of accidents every day across the country, and that roughly 40,000 people pass away in these crashes annually. Above all else, you want to make sure that you are not involved in an accident that could harm you or your family members.
If that is your goal, then one thing you may want to consider is abandoning the idea of the left turn. There are those who believe it would be much safer if all drivers decided never to turn left.
Delivery trucks: An example
You can find one example of this by looking at UPS delivery trucks. They will occasionally turn left, but drivers are generally instructed never to do so unless there is no other choice. When they set up their route for the day, they will try to coordinate things so that they can continually take right turns and simply work their way around the block.
There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one is just that turning left massively increases the chance of an accident. If a delivery truck gets hit, not only could people be injured, but there is a serious financial burden for the company. As a result, they would rather have drivers take slightly longer if they can avoid left turns.
Motorcycle accidents
Another thing to consider is that left-turn accidents are one of the main types of motorcycle accidents. In a lot of cases, these happen because people just don’t see the motorcycles coming or they believe that the bikes are farther away than they actually are. If a driver has to make a judgment call and decide when to turn left, there’s always the chance that the driver is going to make the wrong call and turn in a dangerous fashion. This can lead to crashes that motorcyclists have no way to avoid.
If you’ve lost a loved one or been seriously injured in an accident caused by someone turning left, you may be able to seek financial compensation.