Basically the title but when we do a “U” turn we actually make a small n not a U.

  • deejay4am
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    182 years ago

    To make an n-turn, you’d need to star from the other side of the street, drive forward, and then back up while steering around the bend.

    When creating traffic laws and regulations, this was deemed too dangerous, so they went with “u”.

    (You should have seen the options when they were using a serif font…)

  • Wolf Link 🐺
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    92 years ago

    Capitalization, I guess. “u-turn” and “U-turn” boil down to the same movement, while “n-turn” and “N-turn” don’t work so well together.

  • @[email protected]
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    72 years ago

    I think it’s based on two things: where you are and how the letters start when written.

    When writing letters n and U, both are started at their leftmost position (for most people) and their topmost position (for most people).

    In the UK, or other places where you drive on the left, a u-turn would make a little n. While you aren’t starting the turn from the topmost position of the letter, you are starting on the left of the letter.

    In the US and other countries where you drive on the right, you make a U-turn because viewed from above you are making a U that starts from the top and left of the letter. While from your immediate perspective while driving your making a lowercase n but starting from the right, from above it’s the classic U movement that occurs.

    Just a guess though.

  • @[email protected]
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    72 years ago

    Maybe it was named by someone watching it from the other side of the road, and not the one doing it?

  • sentient_loom
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    62 years ago

    Why would it be an n-turn? The n shape suggests you back up before turning. The capital U asserts that you simply turn. That’s how I’ve always done it.

      • @[email protected]
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        42 years ago

        U-turns are expected behavior when the road has a middle divider. There will often be dedicated U-turn lanes to accommodate that, too.

    • Kill_joy
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      12 years ago

      My wife is a firm believer that not using a signal in a left turn lane universally means you’re u-turning.

  • s6original
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    32 years ago

    An n turn would have to be a U-turn with other vehicles entering. Add any more entrances and you’d have a roundabout.

  • darcy
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    32 years ago

    because it was originally called a You-Turn, because driving instructors said “Now you turn”, and people heard it as “Now you-turn”, and then abbreviated it as “u-turn”