Should Left Turns Be Illegal? One Expert Thinks So—Here’s Why

It might feel like a small thing, but that dreaded left turn across oncoming traffic could be one of the most dangerous moves you make behind the wheel.

Now, a civil engineering professor at Penn State is making the case that we should rethink left turns entirely – and ban them at busy intersections.

His reasoning? The stats don’t lie.

Intersections are already danger zones, accounting for 40% of all crashes.

More than 60% of those wrecks involve someone trying to make a left. Worse yet, half of those left-turn crashes result in a serious injury, and one in five ends in a fatality.

But it’s not just about safety. Left turns can also be a huge time suck for everyone who’s not turning left.

Left turns are huge time wasters.

Left turn signals make things safer. But it means the rest of traffic has to wait just so a few cars can inch across. That stop-and-go inefficiency adds up, especially during high-traffic times.

That’s why the professor is calling on more cities to limit or ban left turns altogether, at least during peak hours. The goal? Make intersections flow more smoothly and reduce the risk of deadly crashes.

While banning left turns en mass might sound unrealistic, the idea isn’t without precedent.

Cities like San Francisco, New York, and parts of Michigan already use strategies to reduce or reroute left turns. UPS even uses routing software that avoids them entirely, not just for safety but to save time and fuel.

So before you grumble about the extra loop around the block, just remember: ditching left turns could mean a safer, faster commute for everyone.

If nothing else, getting stuck behind that person turning left would be one less thing to road rage about.