Techniques are disclosed for reducing false positives for generating warnings to avoid potential collisions between a vehicle and vulnerable road users (VRUs). This is accomplished via an onboard vehicle safety system that uses crowdsourced map data to determine whether a vehicle is capable of performing a maneuver that results in a lateral shift of the vehicle (which may include a lane-shifting or turning maneuver) within a predetermined threshold time period. The ability for the vehicle to make the turning maneuver, among other driving scenarios, may be used to by the safety system to intelligently determine whether a warning or other action is needed to avoid a potential collision with a VRU. In this way, the occurrence and number of false warnings/interventions are minimized or at least reduced, leading to more attentive drivers and thereby improving VRU safety.