Oh, Waze — for every time you find us a more convenient path to our destination, you pull some crazy move that makes us want to throw our phones into the LA River.
In LA, we're no strangers to the navigation app: according to a recent report, at least 10 percent of us are using Waze to get around. But the feature that probably most often prompts that primal throwing instinct is being reconsidered, according to an interview with Paige Fitzgerald, Waze's manager of partnerships with government agencies. The “Waze left,” as it’s called, is that awful moment when you're on a fast path to your destination and Waze tells you to make an inconvenient, and usually dangerous, left turn.
“We’re looking at reducing that occurrence in our routing algorithm,” Fitzgerald said. And while she didn’t outline a timeline, she did note the consideration came from a “pushback in the press.” It’s at least nice to know that she’s listening.
As The Atlantic points out, safety while making a left turn is actually a legitimate concern. In the US, 60 percent of crashes that are at an intersection with a traffic light occur during a left turn, whereas only 4 percent occur during right turns, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
So it's pretty dangerous, but those left turns usually do help reach the destination faster. A lot of LA drivers are willing to take that risk to save a few minutes, so it will be interesting how they end up adjusting to the feature. Until then, we’ll just keep complaining... and waiting.