Who's wrong?? Making a right turn

Far be it for me to make a judgement call. If I was driving the truck I would have blocked both lanes as I approached the turn. Use enough real estate to make the turn and finish in the right lane. YMMV.

 

Well nobody's at fault because nothing happened. Truck driver encroached into someone else's lane expecting them to yield. Forcing another vehicle out of its lane isn't a very safe policy. Once you are in the position he was in (needing both lanes to complete the turn), the safest thing to do would have been to wait as long as it took until no one was utilizing the second lane, then complete the turn. Preventable accident if the car would have hit him.

My dad used to say that if another driver had to keep you from having an accident then you needed to examine your driving style. I believe he was correct on that.

 

He COULD be cited if a cop saw it happen. At least he would have been stopped. So yes, there is a fault.

I agree, maybe we will see it happen in the future with dash cams, that if the dash cam showed where the other driver could have stopped in time may make that be questioned. I'm waiting for the day we see dash cam video showing a collision where the "victim" vehicle could have clearly avoided the collision but either chose not to or was distracted to avoid doing so.

I have no doubt dash cams will be required on all vehicles in the future.

 

This is not exactly correct. By using the outer lane you are leaving your blind side open.

It is perfectly legal and even taught to use the right lane and cutting off the outer lane while you can see other vehicles from your left. Just not the way the driver in the video did it. He would have had to go straight into the outer lane before executing his turn AND yielding to any vehicles in the outer lane.

 

The guy who posted the clip on YT is an idiot. Here's my comment over there:

"Turns - Large vehicles often cannot see vehicles directly behind or beside them when they are attempting to negotiate a turn. Observe their turn signals. Do not cut in between a large vehicle and the curb or shoulder. Large vehicles may need to swing wide and use more than one lane to start or finish a turn. Be aware of long loads that may extend into adjacent lanes during a turn. When you see a large vehicle making a turn, do not crowd the intersection; allow it to complete the turn."

That's from the Oregon Driver Manual, p. 40. You obviously don't know anything about driving a big rig or driving near them. I do: I drove 1.2 million accident-free miles in 18-wheelers. And every day I saw -- and see -- self-righteous 4-wheelers make dumb moves like yours near trucks.

What did you expect the truck's path to be? Did you think the truck would turn right like a sports car? Given the size -- 72 feet long overall -- and the dimensions of the intersection (I know the intersection), a truck driver has to move the rig exactly like the driver did. He cannot make that turn by staying entirely in the right lane (do you even know why?). His initial lane choice might be questionable, but if he had positioned for the turn by blocking both lanes you would have complained about that. And if he had tried to turn right from the outside lane, some fool would have come up on the right and tried to squeeze between the turning trailer and the curb. You say you know the intersection -- maybe the truck driver didn't.

YOU are wrong, Tice; your clip proves it. YOU almost hit a turning vehicle and you want to blame its driver for your haste and your failure "to allow it to complete the turn." You couldn't even wait two seconds for the truck to clear the intersection. Re-read the quoted paragraph. BTW, honking at the rear of a trailer like a teenager makes no sense. Hey, do you see the red and white sign on the back of the trailer? It says, "CAUTION. WIDE TURNS." And if -- if -- your truck got scuffed, it was because YOU were too close.

 

We have to remember, drivers of 4 wheelers are NOT professional drivers, and many have no idea what a large truck is going to do ( evidenced by traffic circles, for one) Also, there are people in cars that actually WANT to get run over by trucks, as they know, lawyers usually go after trucks, and win. I'd bet, if the car did get hit, a sleazy lawyer would present this video, and the judge would hang the trucker. Like I said before, day cab drivers are a different breed than "large car" drivers, and with my Pete, I'd never make a right turn like that.

 

Everyone of you have some truth in your comments and the reality of the situation. Sometimes I've had to just wait for a couple light changes for things to get clearer traffic wise, I hate doing that because in a way your impeding traffic behind you, and we all know most 4 wheelers don't have a clue. I've also done as a couple of you stated and that is take up more real estate in two lanes blocking it so you can clear the turn, but that isn't the greatest move either. If you do have the option of turning right on a red after its clear usually you can pull up wide and clear the turn. Then again if you wait for the green by then the other traffic is in their turn lane to block you off again. I take it on a situation by situation basis, we all know button hook turns aren't the best options all the time either. The wait and turn when it's clear in your lane is the safest, but if you go thru more then two signal light changes that's not so great either, I mean sure better to wait, but it just depends what city, state and intersection location your at. So many of us here have truth stated here because we been there. Be safe drivers, and catch ya on down the road, with a pink hat and a smile...lol

 

No ####! I was gonna throw popcorn in reminding everyone there is a 1550 post thread on this already!