I grew up in Woodland Park, which means I was raised to believe in two simple things: keep your eyes open for deer, and when you want to turn left, you turn left.

Now, apparently, Colorado has decided to change that last one by copying Michigan’s traffic patterns.

It’s called the “Michigan Left,” and they’re building one near Aspen (thank goodness) which puts it safely across the Continental Divide for now. Still, the idea feels wrong. This isn’t how we do things in Colorado and it feels unnecessary and overly complicated.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to everything that comes out of our DOT. I’ve accepted roundabouts, like those in some of our ski towns, with curiosity and even eventual appreciation. They’re compact, efficient, and sometimes even fun. But the Michigan Left is none of these things.

The maneuver, as I’ve come to understand it, will go like this. You approach an intersection where you might once have turned left. Instead, you are now forbidden to do so. You turn right. Then, with incredible patience and the cunning of a politician after the elections are over, you look for a dedicated U-turn lane.

Eventually, you loop back and proceed as if you had turned left in the first place. Only now you’ve wasted a bunch of time and forgotten where you were going in the first place.

Proponents claim it reduces congestion and accidents, particularly at busy intersections. I don’t doubt this. There are very few accidents on roads people try to avoid entirely. And the Michigan Left, if nothing else, will encourage a great deal of soul-searching and alternate route planning.

They say it works in Michigan. To that I say you can keep your “lefts”.

In Colorado, land of the switchbacks, 14ers, and “Colorado guardrails,” which means no guardrail at all, the Michigan Left is going to cause conversation. It’s like they’re asking us to adopt a new kind of logic, one that feels part safety, part satire and entirely un-western. It also assumes that the average Colorado driver, many of whom already treat speed limits as gentle suggestions, will embrace this unconventional system.

In the meantime, when you see me turning left and heading into town, just know I will be doing so the traditional way, by turning my wheel to the left.

Ruth Wiseman is a Woodland Park native and a dual-enrolled high school student attending Pikes Peak State College.