A Compelling Case for Never Making Another Left Turn

It's saved UPS millions of dollars. So there's that.

April 21, 2017 9:00 am

When you’re driving, there’s a right way to make turns.

And it’s turning right, always.

Time postulates that cross-traffic turns increase chances for accidents and waste more fuel, because you’re waiting longer for traffic to clear.

Which is why United Parcel Service truck drivers never turn left. Since UPS adopted this policy back in 2004, it has saved the organization 10 million gallons of fuel, while 20,000 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide have been emitted (and 350,000 more packages have been delivered). An episode of Mythbusters in 2010 also confirmed the efficiency of no left turns.

Unfortunately, while you might want to follow this right guideline, it would take everyone following the no-left mandate to really see its usefulness. As The Conversation notes, a right-only process “only needs a few people to not cooperate and the whole system breaks down,” since left (ha) to their own devices, an individual would be better served by being uncooperative.

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