Buttonhook right-hand turns

Was there oncoming traffic? You never said. If yes, then I’d hang back and wait even on a green light if there’s only one car waiting on the cross street. Then once they go I’d use the whole street you’re turning on to to go right on red.

If there’s no oncoming traffic I’d swing out and turn and make the car back up, provided there’s only one car on the cross street. The only thing I wouldn’t do is blow the air horn, that’s a bit excessive in my opinion.

Hope that answers your core questions more to your liking.

 

So much depends on the individual intersection, you're truck, trailer etc. If traffic in the cross street seems light enough, I'll wait for the cross traffic to clear. I was taught button hooks were where you swing to the left to Make a tight right, not pull way out, but that's just semantics. If there's just one car I can sometimes just cut in behind them to finish the turn. If you have to wait, you have to wait. I've sat through idk how many lights because someone pulled past the line or couldn't make a turn for whatever reason until traffic clears.

 

I didn’t even realize it was called a jug handle until this thread. I would go on a green light even if I had to force the car to reverse.

If you waited until the car got a green light and left, there’s a very high degree of probability that another vehicle would take its place when it turns red so you’re stuck in the same situation as before. Only now you have traffic backed up behind you pissed off. It may seem like you’re being an ahole to the car that is reversing, but it’s just how things are. If they don’t like it too bad, it’s better to reverse it than blocking traffic behind you for several minutes. This should never happen though there’s no reason you can’t make the turn with both jug handle and button hook unless you shouldn’t be on that street in the first place.

edit: I’ve only had to have a car reverse on me twice in like 10 years and it’s as the car comes to the light so I don’t see this as really being an issue?

 

I absolutely agree with @Long FLD . If you're in the middle of the turn and a car starts coming up, then they might need to stop early, or even back up. But if they're already stopped in the turning lane, you don't just get to "move them".

 

Idk what I would have done in your situation, I wasn't there. I've done that in the past, but whether it would've worked here idk. I get your thought process on why you made the turn, but I don't think there's a 100% correct way to answer this. If you were turning from a 2 lane onto a 2lane, sounds like you would've been crossing into oncoming traffic whether you buttonhoooked or jughandled or whatever. Sometimes you just gotta bully your way through the turn, and just not hit anyone or anything.