I Made a Stupid Mistake - I Need Advice

Seriously now, how often is it that traffic is clear ( and that you can see that it is clear) for miles. In most states there are no stretches of road that you can see unobstructed for miles.

You don't care about your own credibility much do you? I figured you wouldn't have the ability to admit you're wrong on an issue but to continue making preposterous posts one after another in an effort to save face doesn't seem to be working for you. My advise to the OP was that when you find yourself in a hole it would be wise to stop digging. I believe this advise might be apropos in your case also.

 

i dont know what else to say

would i do a u turn in heavy traffic? no......but every once in a while, the road is flat and open, you can see there are no cars, you have enough room that you dont have to turn her too sharp.....in my opinion when all the conditions are right, a u turn is safe

 

Myself I will only do a uturn when bobtail when there is a trailer there is to much potential for bad stuff to happen. Making a block/turning into a parking lot won't kill you, a uturn (legal or not) might.

 

I will concede that in some cases it can be done safely.

But those cases are rather rare. Like when I did one at 3 am on a stretch of road that was very straight for awhile and no headlights were visible in either direction.

The bottom line is a u-turn really shouldn't regularly appear in your list of options when you miss a turn or in the rare case there is no other way to get where you're going but to get turned around. I think I've performed 4 u-turns on public roadways over the past 4 years and looking back now 2 of those I should've exercised other options.

The danger is when doing a u-ee starts entering your mind as a viable option when you miss a turn or want to save a few minutes getting back to the interstate. It is a very bad habit. The best way not to get into a habit is not to start.

One aspect of u-turns many drivers don't consider in addition to how long your rig blocks the roadway is how far your trailer swings (and even travels backwards) into the lane to your right creating a potential collision for the cars behind and to the right of you. So when you are watching the oncoming traffic for a break you also need to continually monitor the traffic in your west coast mirror for vehicles behind you on your right side. And of course even when it appears that it is clear in front and in back of you often there may be cars that are about to enter the roadway from side streets, driveways or parking lots. These hazards are often difficult to see in your mirrors especially when the entry roads are obscured by trees and/or signs.

The title of this section of the board is "Questions from new drivers".

I'm thinking downplaying the dangers of u-turns would not be something beneficial for newbies to be reading here.

My 3 cents

 

this thread is worthless with out pics LOL


Just so you dont feel bad here is a good story about getting stuck.

Im have a eobr in my truck and was running low on drive time one night in the middle of winter in MT..
30 min to go I couldn't find a place to park off i90 in MT. No exits, no rest stops. Nothing. All shut down due to heavy snow. Just drive thru and keep chains on is what we were told. Well Im a super trucker LOL I had no chains on. Was empty and going over the pass into ID from MT.NY truck was slipping and sliding all over the pass going up. BUT I MADE IT LOL Scale is even closed at the bottom and lot is snowed in and so is everyone else in there.
Finally made it over the mountain and pulled into a scene look out/turnout for the night. One minute left LOL on the clock. Im good to go. None is getting in trouble tonight I thought. As the night went on I slept like a baby.
'
In the morning I woke up to see I couldn't open my drivers door LOL Snow plows had plowed me in over night. I bet those guys laughed all night long as they kept kicking snow on me. LOL I couldnt even see my tanks. Passenger side was over the fuel tanks form just new snow fall and what was on the ground. Needless to say I was at the TIP of the pass. Snow was heavy.
SO I said fug it. I had breakfast in my truck. Brushed my teeth. Washed my face with clean snow from the passenger side. And pulled my butt out the cab and started digging. WITH MY HANDS!!
It took be 3 hours of digging tracks, rocking the truck back and forth, making a path and I got enough speed to make it 4 feet to the clean road. LMAO. That was one hell of a morning LMAO. I was soaked to the bone. COLD AS heck, hungry already again, and hadn't had coffee all day yet.
Thank god im in good shape and work out all the time. Cause otherwise I would have been calling a wrecker.

point is. sht happens. so dont worry to much.

 

I have made 3 Uturns in trucks over the past 28 years on public highways. 2 of them I was captured and scolded by barney fife. But released without any lasting effects. If your going to do a Uturn you'd better have a #### good reason cause barney's going to be asking you what the hell were you thinking d-r-i-v-e-r-!

 

Ive made one u turn in my short career, and dont plan on it again. Queens- Atlantic ave at 930 am. Got bad directions that put me on the wrong side of the concrete divider from the store i was going too. I went down a couple lights to a nice big intersection. Got the left hand turn light, went for it. Thought the trailer was gonna tip over. The locals mustta thought i was crazy. Said id never do that again. I just got lucky one of nyc's finest wasnt around. That night downloaded the truck route map so i know how to get there the legal way now.

As far as getting the truck stuck, working on farms pre-cdl, ive buried a six wheeler a bunch of times. Rule one, stop digging. Rule two, think about how to get it out the easiest way. Ive been lucky so far not to get my big truck stuck but when it happens, hopefully some of that old experience helps out.