

Michigan left - IgorPartola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left

======
jonnii
I'll see your Michigan left and raise you a magic roundabout

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)>

~~~
jrwoodruff
That just looks like insanity. To think, Americans are confused by simple one-
lane roundabouts.

~~~
DanI-S
They're only confusing because there aren't any rules! A significant part of
learning to drive in Britain is learning how to use roundabouts. In the US,
they're just a donut-shaped free-for-all.

~~~
mickt
I agree, I drive both in the US and Ireland, and in Ireland once you know the
rules of navigating a roundabout it's usually trivial to navigate all
roundabouts. Just look at the 3 pics on this page:
<http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/roundabouts.html>

In the US (at least in the Boston area) it's another matter, and it's almost
as if people just don't know what they're doing, and after doing my driving
test here I'd believe it. :)

~~~
mickt
I should add that in Ireland there are still people who can't navigate
roundabouts/traffic circles/rotaries, but I think due to the less dense
population it's a bit less of a problem (except for some motorways around
Dublin).

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drawkbox
New Jersey Jughandle: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jughandle>

You have to make a left by basically taking almost like a freeway ramp off to
the right.

If you miss your left turn ramp on the right in some parts of Jersey, you end
up driving many miles to get another opportunity due to all the Jersey
barriers that basically prevent real left-hand turns.

~~~
scott_s
Missing a turn in New Jersey is a unique kind of frustration. The frustrating
thing is that these are not highways, but simple routes that in most states
would have normal intersections.

The system is clearly more efficient if you know exactly where you are going -
it's an expert system. Which also implies it's unforgiving to people
unfamiliar with it. (As in, me.)

~~~
51Cards
Me too. Made me insane the first time I drove around NJ... until the
understanding kicked in. Then I saw the efficiencies though that took awhile
to make up for the earlier frustrations as a visitor.

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tvchurch
Like these neat random articles? Check out Best of Wikipedia:
(<http://bestofwikipedia.tumblr.com/>)

Usually twice a day, always good. (Not my site, btw)

Cheers.

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timsco
I like how the Wikipedia article does not mention how this strategy turns the
streets into soul sucking suburban wastelands. The Michigan left may reduce
accidents, but it divides neighbourhoods (reference: anywhere on 8 Mile).

This is a very bad idea.

~~~
modulow
As a 28-year Michigander (Flint/Detroit area), I don't think the left turning
mechanism is responsible for any neighborhood divides...you could say that the
divided highway contributes to this, but I am more inclined to blame "White
Flight" (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight>).

~~~
watchandwait
I blame Michigan's anti-business labor and tax law.

~~~
jbooth
I blame people who blame everything on "unions and taxes" regardless of how
little or how much they know about an actual problem.

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bugsy
It's amazing that there are advantages to this. It seems the main one is the
observation that intersections have many overloaded functions which combine to
explode the complexity of operations that can occur: intersections handle
cross traffic between roads, 4 different points of turning from one road to
the orthogonal one via left turn, 4 different points of turning to orthogonal
via right turn, four points of u-turns, and pedestrian crossing. Whichever
maneuver you pick, there are that many other maneuvers that each other car
might be involved in at the same time and you have to interact with. That's an
insane level of complexity, and the complexity of the whole system affects all
the cars coming from each of 4 directions.

The Michigan turn takes roughly half of these, the 4 left turn modalities and
4 u-turn modalities and displaces each of 4 to a location where it only
affects a single direction, the oncoming one, although it has the side effect
of doubling the number of right hand turns at the main intersection, but these
are safer turns than left ones.

A variation on this I have seen on highways and interstates throughout the US
is to have a left turn slow down and two-way median turn around lane that is
in between the actual roads where one would turn, ensuring that no dangerous
left turns take place. The left turn is replaced with a u turn which is even
more dangerous due to the lower speed at which one clears oncoming traffic,
and there are seldom any pedestrian situations since pedestrians aren't
usually found on highways. But it does avoid the otherwise conflict with
negotiating the crossing with several other directions at once, to your right
cross traffic, left cross traffic, left across-left turn traffic, right
across-left turn traffic, and oncoming traffic, reducing all this to having to
deal with oncoming traffic only.

And if I had not read this link I never would have thought about all this
stuff, so thanks for posting.

------
keiferski
Related:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_left>

 _The driving practice of the first left-turning vehicle taking precedence
over vehicles going straight through an intersection._

~~~
steveklabnik
I can confirm that this happens quite often around here. Sometimes, it's
fantastic, and alleviates a lot of congestion.

Another odd Pittsburgh-ism that has its own Wikipedia page:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_parking_chair> I'm not a big fan of
this one.

~~~
coolgeek
This is done in Philly, too, as well as other PA cities. I'd be very surprised
if it was limited to PA though

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agscala
Not to mention that Michigan also puts signs for major intersections before
the actual intersection (like 1/4 a mile), but they can be difficult to find
(or not even there) at the actual intersection...

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davito88
I love that this hit the HN RSS. However, I prefer the Pittsburg Left:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Left>

~~~
davito88
also, they are apparently safer than 'normal' left turns:
<http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmshummersuperstreets/>

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m_myers
See also the Texas Turnaround for highway frontage roads:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_U-turn>

~~~
look_lookatme
I don't live in Texas anymore and I don't drive anymore, so I never realized
this isn't standard around the US. Weird. I loved turnarounds as an option
over yielding lefts. You drive a bit further, but it always felt a bit safer,
particularly in large strip malls where you have several points of entry along
a frontage road.

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IgorPartola
This is the other type of turn we were discussing at lunch today:
[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2044725,00....](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2044725,00.html).

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vnchr
And proud of it!

\- A Michigander

~~~
markkat
Yeah, it makes you feel almost like Columbus!

-Another!

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notyourwork
Did anyone else read this as "the state of Michigan has left wikipedia".
Pleasantly surprised at what I found on the link though. I love ideas like
this, though I fear majority of drives in the states would have trouble
adjusting to this style. They have enough trouble parallel parking and making
right's on red, lets not confuse them anymore!

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ohyes
The Michigan left would never work in Massachusetts because of the Boston
Sweep (A maneuver in which you merge onto the roadway and rapidly change lanes
from far right to far left, without signaling).

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balanon
I am from Michigan. I hate the Michigan left. It basically puts something
between you and the other side of the street. I wonder how much gas I've
wasted going right for 1/8 of a mile just to go left.

~~~
maukdaddy
Probably not much since you'd otherwise waste a lot of gas idling at a red
light trying to make a left.

~~~
colomon
It's not like the "Michigan Left" (I hate that name, "Metro Detroit Left"
would be much more accurate) does away with making a left turn at a light.
Instead, you make a right turn at light at the intersection, and then a left
turn at the extra stoplight they added for the Michigan left. The only time
it's really a win is when there's no traffic on the road you're crossing, so
you can turn right on red and then left on red. And of course, in that case it
would be easy to turn left on green if it were a normal intersection...

~~~
mdiep
These aren't unique to Metro Detroit. Portions of the East Beltline (M-44) in
Grand Rapids, one of the busiest streets in the area, make use of the Michigan
Left.

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callmeed
I lived in Bend, Oregon for 3 years and we had roundabouts everywhere. You
could literally get across town without stopping at a light/sign.

Maybe they are more of a small/medium sized city feature, but it was hard
coming back to California and all it's stop lights and stupid turn lanes.

[http://www.ci.bend.or.us/roundabouts/docs/CityEdAug07_Rounda...](http://www.ci.bend.or.us/roundabouts/docs/CityEdAug07_Roundabouts.wmv)

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pkananen
I've always been surprised at how living in a different state affects far
reaching things such as making left hand turns.

~~~
blinkingled
I was more irritated than surprised but yeah - I have thought about this point
more than once during my early days in the US.

When I first landed - it was almost frightening to drive -the flashy noisy cop
cars, the humongous, wide, structured yet confusing mingling of roads. Then
you go drive to another state and few surprises get thrown at you!

Oh and Stop signs really absolutely terminally mean STOP - that took a little
while to get used to. I failed driving test due to this - the seriousness of
driving tests, that was yet another "O'RLY, FOR REAL?" moment!

I get it all now after several years, but it was fun living through the cross
state road trips.

\--Another Michigander.

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cale
How about those left turn passing lanes on two-lane roads in Maryland? Feels
dangerous, but keeps traffic moving.

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pkamb
In Washington, you can turn left onto a one-way street on red. This is legal
when you are on a one-way OR two-way street, which is unique to Washington and
a handful of other states. This applies to turning left onto freeway on-ramps
(one way streets) as well.

~~~
throw_away
left turn to one-way on red is legal in michigan as well, it turns out. having
lived in michigan and now washington, I'm glad I learned that this is not the
case everywhere before it became an issue.

~~~
pkamb
Wikipedia says left on red from one-way to one-way is legal in 37 states, so
you should be good in most places doing that. Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon,
Washington, and B.C. (Canada) allow the left turn from two-way onto one-way as
an added bonus.

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Jacob4u2
Flash animation showing examples of East to North and North to West turns -
[http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Roads-
Travel_mic...](http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Roads-
Travel_mich_left_213414_7.swf)

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rfugger
Reminded me of this brilliant configuration for avoiding left turns at freeway
interchanges:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverging_diamond_interchange>

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KeithMajhor
A previous article about another interesting traffic design.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1437430>

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lusis
These things ALWAYS throw me for a loop when visiting the inlaws. It's so
counter-intuitive.

