From Richard Rostron of The Response:
Lazy Lefts are accidents waiting to happen, and apparently happening
I call them Lazy Lefts.
I don’t do them myself but I’ve seen many of them from other drivers. In fact,
I’ve narrowly avoided accidents with people taking Lazy Lefts.
Two of several of those Lazy Lefts occurred at the intersection of Bull Valley Road and Country Club Road. Those two in particular were both very close calls.
At this point, you’re probably wondering, what is a Lazy Left?
In this diagram, we see that the red truck is taking a Lazy Left across the path of the brown car. If the brown car was further forward, they would have collided.
My guess is that you’ve seen them numerous times.
You may have taken a Lazy Left from time to time.
Or, you could be one of those drivers who takes Lazy Lefts on a regular basis.
A Lazy Left is when someone is taking a left-hand turn but cuts across the right-hand lane on the inside of their turn.
It creates a potential accident if someone is approaching the intersection from that lane the Lazy Lefter is crossing.
I’m not interested in blowing the whistle on drivers who take Lazy Lefts.
I’m not out to drop a dime on them.
But it just happened to me this week and I figured it’s time to point it out before I have an accident with someone taking a Lazy Left, or it happens to a friend, loved one – or even someone I don’t know.
Unfortunately, it does happen.
The insurance industry has a term of their own for it – LTAP-OD, which stands for Left Turn Across Path. I’m assuming the OD stands for Opposing Direction or something like that (doesn’t say on the page I’m looking at).
It’s my impression that, in terms of frequency, this is a somewhat recent development – the last 20 years or so. I don’t recall it so much when I was younger .
But it definitely happens with frequency today.
On those two occasions, as I was approaching Country Club Road while driving on Bull Valley Road,
I slammed on the brakes and narrowly avoided an accident.
But that’s not the only place that it’s happened.
I also had close calls at the intersection of E Church Street and N Seminary Avenue in Woodstock while I was approaching the Emerson Lofts.
The latter is a particularly hazardous intersection for drivers approaching N. Seminary from Eastbound E Church Street.
A concrete wall extends up about four feet with a lattice fence on top to the right of the driver on E Church Street.
If someone is taking a Lazy Left from Seminary onto Church, the driver on Church will have a difficult time seeing the problem before it is too late.
I had one ‘gentleman’ make ‘visual communication’ with me after I stopped in time to avoid a head-on collusion when he took a Lazy Left across my path.
Apparently, he was angry that I was driving where he wanted to go, even if it was my lane.
The reality is that I saved us both from an accident that he would have caused.
One of us, or both of us, might have been hurt.
Our cars would have been damaged.
But he would have gotten the ticket.
Instead of flipping me the bird, he should have been thanking me.
The way to avoid a Lazy Left, and the potential of such an accident, is to pull further forward before turning left, and turn into your intended lane only.
Of course, that takes additional effort; you have to pull forward another five or six feet and turn the steering wheel a little sharper. I know, it’s a terrible burden but it might save you some much bigger headaches in the long run.
Cutline (car takes lazy left in Woodstock_IL) This car, turning left onto E Church Street from N Seminary Avenue, is only taking a mild Lazy Left. Some drivers come right across the lane of approaching vehicles. In both cases, there is the potential for an accident.
