• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechGoogle

Google’s Waze Is Helping Drivers Avoid Left-Hand Turns

By
Kirsten Korosec
Kirsten Korosec
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kirsten Korosec
Kirsten Korosec
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 18, 2016, 5:24 PM ET
Illustration by Waze

Left-hand turns can be fraught with peril, particularly when there’s no traffic light.

Turn the backdrop to rush hour in Los Angeles, and left-hand turns become a scourge that most drivers try to avoid. And that can cause a new problem—more right-hand turns and a longer commute.

Waze, the mapping and navigation app acquired by Alphabet’s Google (GOOG) in 2013, has introduced a new routing feature—initially for the Los Angeles area—to help drivers bypass those difficult intersections, when possible. The “Difficult Intersections” setting is automatically enabled for drivers in Los Angeles. Users can disable the feature in settings. The feature will expand to New Orleans soon, Waze says. Other cities around the world will be added as needs are identified, the company says.

Waze says it tries to strike a balance between avoiding difficult intersections and an efficient, short route. By default, the app will calculate the best possible route the bypasses a difficult intersection. If that bypass is significantly longer, the driver may still be routed through a difficult intersection, Waze says.

The goal of the feature is to reduce the amount of these intersections, not completely eliminate them.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

To create this feature Waze turned to locals—specifically the people who help edit its maps. These Angelenos shared lists of what they perceived to be the most difficult intersections and provided alternate solutions. The company also worked with the city of Los Angeles to better understand the area.

Users who don’t live in Los Angeles, but who think their city has some particularly tricky intersections can report it from the app under Report > Map Issue, Waze says.

Google and Fiat’s minivan might actually be a hit:

Waze is constantly rolling out new features. Last month, the company introduced a feature to help drivers avoid speeding by giving users alerts if they’re driving too fast. It was created to help drivers navigate unfamiliar areas where the speed limit may be unposted or changes seasonally, according to Waze. The feature is now available in 18 countries including Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and Uruguay. The U.S. was notably absent from the list.

The company also recently started experimenting with carpooling in the San Francisco Bay area. Waze, which began testing its carpooling service last year in Israel, expanded the pilot to 25,000 local employees at select companies, including Adobe and Walmart Global eCommerce.

 

About the Author
By Kirsten Korosec
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

jack dorsey
AILayoffs
Block CEO Jack Dorsey lays off nearly half of his staff because of AI and predicts most companies will make similar cuts in the next year
By Jake AngeloFebruary 27, 2026
1 hour ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
AIAnthropic
The Pentagon brands Anthropic’s CEO a ‘liar’ with a ‘God-complex’ as deadline looms over AI use in weapons and surveillance
By Beatrice NolanFebruary 27, 2026
3 hours ago
lacks
LawLawsuit
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks lawsuits gets a bit shorter with Novartis settlement
By Brian Witte and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
3 hours ago
burger king
AIOpenAI
Burger King tests OpenAI-powered headsets that will track the friendliness of drive-through workers
By Dee-Ann Durbin and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
5 hours ago
zuck
LawSocial Media
20-year-old claiming social media addiction in landmark trial says she was on it ‘all day long’ as a child. Meta brings up abusive environment
By Kaitlyn Huamani, Barbara Ortutay and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
5 hours ago
dorsey
BankingLayoffs
Jack Dorsey lays off 40% of Block, saying AI has changed the game: ‘Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company’
By Elaine Kurtenbach and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt robot vacuum maker iRobot says Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot assistants is ‘pure fantasy thinking’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Jeff Bezos says being lazy, not working hard, is the root of anxiety: ‘The stress goes away the second I take that first step’
By Sydney LakeFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Trump claims America is ‘winning so much.’ The IMF agrees, adding that Trump’s trade policies are the only thing holding it back from even more
By Tristan BoveFebruary 26, 2026
24 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Gen Z Olympic champion Eileen Gu says she rewires her brain daily to be more successful—and multimillionaire founder Arianna Huffington says it really does work
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Jamie Dimon says society should start preparing for AI job displacement: ‘Now’s the time to start thinking about’ it
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
It’s more than George Clooney moving to France: America is becoming the ‘uncool’ country that people want to move away from
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 27, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.