Turning Right is Quicker than Turning Left When Driving
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Sitting in traffic lights today for what seemed like forever, I noticed that drivers turning right turned quicker than drivers turning left.
Why is that? After all, it’s simply a 90 degree turn one way or the other 
I have no clue what you're talking about 
Surely it's all to do with the flow of traffic?
It's those who turn left more quickly than they turn right who are the muppets.
rossruby1977 It is confusing - not as confusing though as trying to explain that when drivers enter a motorway from the slip road and use the right hand indicator, they're actually turning left, Think about it; if they did actually turn right (as indicated) they'd be heading up the motorway on the wrong side.
davidstockport I’ve not really thought about it. Just stuck the gif up to be silly.
As long as I can drive that’s all that matters to me. 
There are several reasons. Even though both maneuvers achieve the same result the reason turning right is usually done more quickly is because those turning left usually have to do so more slowly and at a more acute angle, having to allow perhaps for the kerb. Those turning right can usually take a wider sweep (they've got the other side of road to permit this) furthermore those turning right usually have a much better view of where they're going.
You're over thinking it ? Turning left you only need a gap on one stream of traffic (given a normal 2 lane road ) , Turning right you need a gap on both streams of traffic .
Golfforall This has nothing to do with gaps in the traffic, if you read again it clearly states "at traffic lights" where presumably the traffic flow of the oncoming traffic had been stopped.
Vehicles turning RIGHT use a much larger arc to turn, and so can use a higher speed. Vehicles turning left have to slow down considerably.
It's a FACT that right hand turns (on left hand drive roads) are usually at a HIGHER speed.
davidstockport You are still over thinking it - traffic lights are timed differently depending on the weight of traffic (often computerised ) and the time of day . The extra 0.2 of a second saved by a faster speed when taking a wider arc would be more than nullified by the extra distance travelled on said wider arc ?
An interesting conversation , but I think the poster was just unlucky , or perhaps a complicated junction that prioritises traffic turning right at certain times of the day .
Golfforall Perhaps next time you're stopped at traffic lights at a cross roads with a reasonable amount of traffic, you will actually notice that vehicles turning right can do so much more quickly than vehicles who turn left. The lights often help by filtering those turning right but can't help those who've had to slow down considerably to take a more acute angle (no sweep) to turn left.
(50 years ago I was heavily involved in traffic flow management).
Totally to do with the flow of traffic , you must have been unlucky ? In fact the opposite is true , turning left is quicker (in the UK ) as you only have one direction of traffic to give way to at non signalled junctions (think about it ) .
In fact delivery driver's sat navs are programmed to use mainly left turns when going round housing estates etc . Stems from a massive trial carried out by Amazon in the USA 20 odd years ago when their delivery efficiency was improved by 10% -15% by taking right turns whenever possible on their rounds .
It might be easier to use left hand turns (right hand turns in America) but it is NOT necessarily quicker. Where traffic lights are in use and no oncoming traffic to worry about overall; traffic crossing to the other side of road to turn will create a faster flow of traffic than where traffic turns to the nearside. What the OP observed was quite correct.
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