Ever deliberately stopped in the middle of the street to make a turn?

Where I had to do it there was a traffic light a 1/4 mile to my right. I needed to make a left turn onto the road. I would usually wait until there were numerous cars already stopped waiting on traffic light so that oncoming traffic already saw stopped cars and we're slowing for those stopped cars. So maybe the cars I was going to temporarily block were 1/4 mile from me. Then I would do as the OP described. If traffic from left & right were heavy, I would just make a right turn, then a left at traffic light, follow road that circled back where I came from, but 1 block over, and then wait on traffic and get back on the road making a left would have put me on. It's a judgement call on the driver. All of this assumes traffic & you have good visibility so nobody gets surprised coming over a hill or a curve.

 

This is how I was taught.

 

It depends on the speed limits and the type of road. A highway that’s rated at 45+? Most likely never do that, I’d rather make 3 right turns and a protected left turn. An access road where the speed limit is 25? Yeah I might do that if it’s a very busy road where waiting for both sides to be clear is an issue. The issue is “what if someone hits me?”. At a highway they can always claim they didn’t have enough time to react. But on a small 25mph road and with everything being recorded you can always argue the other driver was being negligent, reckless, or did not do his obligation to attempt to avoid the accident. Yeah you’ll still get sued and it’ll be expensive but you can bring down the liability if the other party was being grossly negligent.

 

If you end up in an accident.

The cop might not see it in your favor.

It's our job as professional drivers to watch out for cars.

In other words. We're relied on to babysit their A

 

I have been out here over 13 years and more than a million miles, and I have never blocked traffic like that.

 

Was just making a joke, but yes I do occasionally block traffic for a cycle or two like you described in your original post.

Lamar Ave. is US78 in Memphis, which turns into I-22 towards Birmingham. It's where the infamous Love's is, and yes, there is very obvious prostitution at all hours. It's really not that sketchy during the day. Super busy commercial and commuter route. You've probably driven it at some point without realizing it's Lamar if you've been driving for a while.

Sort of a mind your business and keep it moving route, if you will. No need for pictures, police calls, or concern.

Once you get out of town, it's just a typical state highway.

 

No. And if you pull that nonsense in front of me, I will bend over freakin backwards to ensure consequences to you and your employer.

 

Motto is, “do what you gotta do.” There’s a delivery I make all the time and it requires a right turn on a corner that is not made for big trucks. The turn can be made, but you have to swing into the middle lane which is the left-hand turn lane. That’s the only way to do it because there’s always a car at that intersection the other direction and half the time they go across the line by a few feet, if not more. so I kind of position myself with my rear end to the right lane, keeping some idiot from coming up on the right of me but also over in the left lane with my signaling the right turn, of course. And then I just button hook it out and come back around, but yeah, I have to block both lanes. Trust me, man, they’ll get over it. Most people are respectful and understand you’re driving a big truck and this is what you gotta do. But every once in a while, you get a idiot that starts blasting his horn or whatever. Just ignore them.

 

I deliver frequently to a concrete plant in a small, but very busy (traffic-wise) town. Speed limit is 25 mph. The facility is on a back street off the main street. When I leave the place, I need to make a right on the main street, which is very busy at 7AM. There's a red light half a mile away to my right.

To make the right, it takes every inch of real estate.

So yeah, I do it to make my right turn. I wait until the light changes to red, wait for traffic to my left to mostly clear, then pull out and wait.

I don't like doing it, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But I'd never do it anywhere other than in a small town. NEVER on any kind of road where the speed limit is over 25 or 30