Eliminating the Dangerous 'Waze Left'

"The navigation app Waze is beloved for exploiting shortcuts, avoiding traffic, and proving that the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line," according to a post by David Yanofsky. "But its sinuous directions can also be a source of annoyance for drivers, who are often asked to make treacherous left turns through oncoming traffic at dicey intersections."

Yanofsky reports, however, that the company is studying ways to remove the so-called "Waze left" from its routing algorithm. The company is responding to user feedback and media pushback, given the much greater dangers associated with turning left. The article goes on to survey some of the user feedback available online, as well as some specific examples of "Waze lefts" as provided by streets found in the city of Los Angeles.