I'm being charged with Reckless Driving . . .

the fact that you refuse to take responsibility for your own actions says everything about you that anybody would ever need to know.


What you did was reckless and that’s the charge you received. Well deserved in my opinion.


Like TallJoe just said in his last post, we’ve all made uturns on the road. The thing is we make sure there are no obstructions and that we can safely complete the uturn. A standard lane is 12’ wide, you have two lanes. That equals 24’. Add in two foot for the yellow lines and you up to 26’. Five foot shoulders? Ok now you have 36’. And you’re pulling a 48’ or 53’ trailer.


How can you blame anyone other than yourself when your trailer alone was at a minimum 12 feet longer than the road was wide???


As a cdl holder your are supposed to be a professional. I get things happen, they happen to all of us. I have had my own oops over the years, but i have always manned up and owned them mistakes. It’s called a learning experience.


Another thing is most company’s have a no uturn policy. That is a no warning 1st offense your fired type of policy.

Use the search feature on ttr if you do not believe that, you find threads of people looking for jobs after being fired for getting caught making a uturn.

The dumbest thing i’ve ever heard. Smdh
Instead of getting out of the truck and making sure everything was ok, you recklessly mashed the gas harder and still think it’s the phone company’s fault. Wow

 

Google local lawyers in that area and pay them as much as they want to fight this ticket……….

you don’t want that charge on your cdl…..if you deserve the charge or not is irrelevant.

 

“Less is more, loose lips sink ships”. They got you on recording stating that you did a U-turn in a semi truck. Where one wasn’t warranted. If you had of left that part out, you could’ve argued that the telephone lines were lacking proper maintenance and were abandoned and that’s hanging down to low into the street. Assuming you were on a route that wasn’t truck restrictive. It’s the U-turn part that they got you to state and got you on. I know it’s so hard for people to comprehend not talking to the authorities. You can be polite, you can be friendly and always respectful, but when it comes to talking about the actual events? Keep your mouth shut. Less is always more

 

No, but there's other, better options. In a situation like that, I'd probably sit on the shoulder a minute and browse Google satellite view on my phone to find a road or other safe surface on the left to do a 3 point if there's no clear place like a commercial lot within a few miles.

I see the hyperventilating about it being a 2 lane, and also saw what you already said: it's like a rural Texas 2 lane that's really wide as a 4 lane. With the hard dirt shoulders even better. The thing about those wide rural 2 lanes (and 4 lane divided US routes with intersections, for that matter) is the 4 wheelers are usually speeding, and also daydreaming or distracted. They aren't expecting to see a truck the size of a house in the road. When it appears, they lock up mentally and drive right into it. Unless I can see at least a mile both ways, I will likely not do it no matter how easy it looks.

It's probably not illegal, but not knowing the letter of the law everywhere, who knows? Who cares if it is legal? The risk is that if anyone hits you or you hit anything, it will automatically be your fault. Here's the law on it in my home state, Georgia. Probably close to the same in SE red states and out west, more restrictive in northern blue states. Basically says where you can't do it.

Subpart 3 is where they get you. A typical low-IQ cop is going to say you were involved in an accident, so it was obviously not a safe turn and write you up. The judge will automatically side with the cop if you go there, so that's how it goes. Doesn't matter how safe you think it is. I'm not saying you can't ever do it. What I'm saying is: anything gets rubbed it's on you.

 

OP, I torn down lines in Louisville years ago. I got away with it because I didn't stop. Lol. If I had gotten caught, I would have just taken what was coming and dealt with it accordingly. I don't have a problem with you making a U-turn. U turns are ok if done in the right spots. You keep trying to make the case about the lines being too low. That ain't gonna hold any water man. The courts, society, they expect us PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS, to know better. Whether the lines were too low or not, you made an ill-advised move on a 2 lane highway. You went off road, and I feel like that's going to sink you. Whether you get this charge reduced or not, you need to acknowledge that you fouled up. You need to put a lid on the can of excuses. You also mention that you got a speeding ticket as well. You gotta get a little more focused on what you're doing.

That being said, your career as a driver is definitely not over. I've seen folks commit worse atrocities on the road and still find work as a driver. You'll have to take whatever job is available to you for a period of time. It may not be the best, but it's a check. You'll need to clean up your record. While you're doing that, practice paying attention to everything and get better as a professional driver.

 

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It may be dumb, but is sure is common.

Things said after preventable accidents:

1. I was just about to GOAL
2. The customer/TS made the spots too tight
3. The other vehicle came out of nowhere
4. I thought there was enough space
5. "Person X" told me I was clear
6. I speed up because X (bogging down, car coming, running out of hours, thought I was in a pothole, other stupid reason)

One driver swore that the faster the truck moves, the less space it needs to turn. Another argued that he was only paid to drive, so if the truck was moving it was in his best financial interests to move as fast as he could.

Then there was the guy who thought if he just went fast enough he'd be able to drive 40 feet through 6 inches of water/ice/mud slurry to the dry ground his trailer was on, get hooked and get back out. He made it in, barely, but left huge ruts that swallowed him up of the way out. I think the pics from that one are in the Schneider chat room.

 

This post is absolute gold