When Turning Left This School Season, Don't Cut Corners: NYPD

NEW YORK, NY — Police this school season want you to think extra carefully before you turn left. The NYPD is doubling down on a Vision Zero campaign this week that warns drivers not to cut corners when making left turns, especially as the school year starts.

Left turns were responsible for 12 percent of all pedestrian and bicyclist deaths between 2010 and 2014, according to a study by the Department of Transportation. Left-turning vehicles caused pedestrian and cyclist deaths at three times the rate of right-turning vehicles within that same time period, according to the DOT.

"With #NYC schools set to open please drive safely & don't cut corners on left turn safety," Thomas M. Chan, NYPD's transportation chief, tweeted Tuesday.

Left turns are more dangerous than right turns for three primary reasons, according to the DOT. First, left turns can have a wider radius so drivers might go faster or be exposed to more pedestrians. Drivers in the DOT study turning left were going an average of 9.3 mph, whereas drivers turning right had an average of 5.6 mph.

Second, the driver's visibility during a left turn is partially blocked by parked cars. And third, drivers require more "mental and physical effort" when making a left turn than when making a right turn.

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