Could this inform urban planning?
Shouldn't we ban left hand turns more often for everyone?
Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
51–60 of 132 posts
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#52Id very much like to know why they don't send a text+email prior to a physical delivery so I can confirm whether I will be home to take delivery and potentially offer a reroute address or simply say do not attempt, rather than the current approach of making three unsuccessful attempts.
That's an excellent point - surely missing a delivery offsets the benefits of a LOT of no-left-turning.
I imagine it'd depend on the density of deliveries. Once the truck is loaded and navigating a town, the marginal cost of a re-delivery is probably negligible compared to the logistical problem of recomputing optimalish routes and attendant schedules on the fly.
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#53I can imagine that in a typical American city, but I wonder how this would work in a typical European city. Where you don't usually have so nice even blocks like in the US. I could get to my parents w/o a left turn. So I don't think it is impossible to avoid left turns in a European city but I think it is much, much harder to do so.
How many roundabouts would you… round-a-bout in the process, tho?
One, which is 50% of the roundabouts in my town.
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#54Hasn't this been confirmed on Mythbusters (in SF) as well (Episode 145)?
Yes, and the article even embeds the video. "If you don't believe it, well, that's why Mythbusters exists."
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#55It'd be nice if consumer GPS navigators offered an option like "prefer right turns".
I'd be happy if my GPS just stopped sending me on detours through residential areas...
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's generally a bad idea to "pass on the right", not just for cyclists (tho they are disproportionately harmed).
Non-optional bicycle lanes make this unavoidable and motorists still lobby for cyclists to be kept of ‘their’ road.
I think you wouldn't be downvoted if you just wrote, "Non-optional bicycle lanes make this unavoidable".
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
as a cyclist in the US there's a very common scenario here, too - turning right, looking left, not looking into the turn and bam, cyclist at high risk. TO CLARIFY - the situation i am most referring to is a cross street, where the car is perpendicular to your path and would be coming from your left as a cyclist.
It's generally a bad idea to "pass on the right", not just for cyclists (tho they are disproportionately harmed).
[deleted]
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#58Could this inform urban planning? Shouldn't we ban left hand turns more often for everyone?
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#59In Denmark, the term højresvingsulykke (right turn accident) is common, meaning when a car, typically a truck, turns right and hits a bicycle. Lots of people are killed from this every year. One theory is that it is primarily foreign truck drivers who are not accustomed to the high number of cyclists in Copenhagen. When I initially saw the title, I was expecting it to be a mistake and actually say "Why UPS Trucks Don…
Lorries turning left is how cyclist die every week in here in London.
Re: Why UPS Trucks Rarely Turn Left
#60Apropos left turns, former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was involved in a left-turn accident early in his career, after which he ordered that his drivers never turn left when he was in the car.
http://www.fwweekly.com/2011/11/22/tapping-in-to-the-bureau/
Quote: "A small army of agents spent days planning details of the trip. The supervisor drove the car with Hoover and Tolson. Hoover insisted on riding in the back seat, on the right side. He’d once been injured in a car wreck while sitting in the left rear seat, and he refused to sit there again. Also, the accident occurred during a left turn, and Hoover no longer allowed his drivers to make left turns. This complicated the route to Austin in those days before interstate highways."