# Why aren't navigation apps smart enough not to try to make me turn left from a side street onto a busy four-lane road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-navigation-apps-smart-enough-not-to-try-to-make-me-turn-left-from-a-side-street-onto-a-busy-four-lane-road/984248 "2023-05-18T23:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-navigation-apps-smart-enough-not-to-try-to-make-me-turn-left-from-a-side-street-onto-a-busy-four-lane-road/984248/41 "2023-05-20T23:06:43Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > My only real gripe is that this feature doesn’t include an explanation of why you’re being given these specific directions I really wish it would do that. My car in particular. Recently I was traveling to a town about 20 miles away. Normally the route is along a specific US highway. For some reason the car sent me off the highway, down a parallel smaller road, and then later back to the highway. Strange, but maybe it knew about an accident or road closure I wasn’t aware of. On the way back home it tried a similar thing, but then I had a passenger who could double check on her phone with Google maps, and determined that the usual highway was fine. I ignored the car’s instructions, and went on the highway. It was fine. The car has tried similar detours off the same highway since then. I’ve ignored them all, and never hit unusual traffic. Now we know that the car is sometimes afraid of US-287, and to ignore it’s whining. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-navigation-apps-smart-enough-not-to-try-to-make-me-turn-left-from-a-side-street-onto-a-busy-four-lane-road/984248/42 "2023-05-21T02:21:21Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > A similar problem I’ve encountered is being directed to enter a freeway on a left side ramp and take the next exit on the right with virtually no space to cross all the lanes and that’s assuming that magically there is no traffic (which you can be assured is very heavy). On that route the first time I took a direct, main road route which was quick and simple. The next time I decided to try the GPS unit’s way, uh-oh. Then the other way the next times. You have to take into consideration that most drivers are unsafe, poorly-skilled, inattentive, and willing to risk strangers’ lives to get where they’re going RIGHT NOW! To the average chucklehead, if Waze or whatever DIDN’T instruct them to go across 6 lanes in 100 meters they would be pissed off. That’s the way they drive _without_ satnav so they expect the driving apps to plan routes that way. Same with making left turns across 2 or 3 lanes. Safe driving is for sissies. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-navigation-apps-smart-enough-not-to-try-to-make-me-turn-left-from-a-side-street-onto-a-busy-four-lane-road/984248/43 "2023-05-23T21:32:45Z")
Waze let me down today, oof. “Don’t take your usual route, turn left up here. Oooh, now that you’re in the left turn lane I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to turn left two miles from now. Oh, you’re trapped in the left turn lane because traffic is so heavy? So sorry, I’m just gonna route you around this traffic jam… Into another traffic jam. Five times.” The system isn’t flawless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-navigation-apps-smart-enough-not-to-try-to-make-me-turn-left-from-a-side-street-onto-a-busy-four-lane-road/984248.md?page=2)