Garmin not programmed to make left turns by the islands

I sense your frustration but your device is at the mercy of the maps that are provided by HERE (which used to be Navteq).

Since you refer to Navteq, I am wondering what map you have in your device. You have a 3597 which is a relatively new unit (May of 2013) and I would have expected that you would see the HERE copyright notice on the on the screen following "Loading Maps" if you have been updating maps.

Give us some details on your map, please.

You can report map errors directly from within Basecamp ...

Or through the Here website, so no need to call customer support (who by the way have always been excellent when I've contacted them)

The way things work in a Garmin GPS unit are that it is the map data which specifies where turns are allowed in where they are not. If you have the "avoid left turns" option turned on, some available left turns may not be used, but in general the programming is not deciding where turns are allowed and where they are not.

If you are interested in checking a particular situation, you could take a look the map on here.com. I just checked this for small example of the situation you are complaining about quite near my home, and it remains true at this very minute that the here.com map clearly shows it does not know (and thus does not tell Garmin) that there is a cross street (complete with stoplight) allowing one to turn left at the shopping center where Einstein bagels is located just south of Albuquerque Academy when westbound on Academy Boulevard.

This has been true for at least the last couple of years. I tried to report it, but I don't think here.com is currently processing user correction reports for mapping information in the United States.

Have you check to see whether your 3597 has a left turn avoidance option selected (at Settings|Navigation|Avoidances probably)? If that option is turned on, perhaps you will like the behavior better if you turn it off.

Do they even have a "left turn avoidance" option in the settings? I know there is a U-turn avoidance, but I seem to recall that Garmin's routing is designed to minimize the number of left turns required while still getting you to your destination as quickly as possible. That said, while I sympathize with the OP and can understand his frustration, the routing in this case has the driver's safety in mind. To the device, it's much safer to make a U-turn and then take a right into the parking lot than it is to make an uncontrolled crossing across multiple lanes of traffic. This is one of those instances where the driver must use his judgment and decide whether to take the left, or take the U-turn.

I just checked my 3790, and it is as you say--an option is available regarding U-turns, but not for left.

My mistake.

I did talk to a UPS driver once. He stated that the GPS devices used by UPS do offer a no left turn option which drivers use. I asked about the device and he said he have to kill me if he told me more.

The problem that the OP is experiencing in his RANT (and that's pretty much all it is and not a request for assistance or trying to understand the situation) is NOT that the Garmin is not programmed to "make left turns by the islands". But is an issue with the median breaks not being in the map data. You can't make a turn where the map shows that the median is continuous.

And as noted, this is an issue with the map data being incomplete and not necessarily with the routing programming being lacking. (Not that the routing isn't lacking at times.)

However, I will state (as I have many times before) that the Garmin unit is NOT designed to give you the "best" route. The routing algorithm doesn't know anything about "best". It does a mathematical calculation given the data it has to work with and comes up with the "shortest" or "fastest" route depending on the user's selection.

Also, the GPS unit should be regarded as a tool. It should assist with the route. It should not ever replace that thing between one's ears.

I have successfully reported and have seen corrected multiple mapping errors as well as reported changes due to construction that made it into the maps in a few updates. Since you did not enlighten us as to where "the Islands" are I can't speculate on what the issue really is. As others have stated, map errors do not get reported to Garmin but to the companies that provide the map data. Was your phone conversation with Garmin as disjointed and nonsensical as your post?

It has always been the case that left turns are avoided in general. This isn't really anything new.

@fkent484: Regardless of the caliber of his post, there's no need to be insulting. The street in question is a divided highway with a median strip running down the middle. This median strip is not continuous, but is divided by left turn lanes to take the driver directly across the oncoming lanes and into the shopping centers. These are the islands he refers to. His complaint is that his GPS refuses to use those left turn lanes and instead has him make a U-turn into the oncoming traffic lane and then take a right into the parking lot.

As already noted, the GPS is a tool and the driver needs to use their best judgment, rather than doggedly following the GPS. Otherwise you end up with people stuck on a back road in Death Valley, dying of thirst in a desert.

.....GPS not programmed to make a left turn...

Man, that would be a real bummer if you were using your GPS while driving in the Indy 500 race.

Can you imagine racing on an oval track and not being told by your GPS to make a left turn?

I'm just saying ....

Not trying to be insulting but if you want answers to questions you have to be able to communicate your thoughts logically. Thanks for translating his post into comprehensible English.