Why wide rights? (Say that 5x's fast.)

[MrKnowItAll]

Can someone tell me why truckers need to make wide right turns? Is there some design flaw in all semi tractors that prevent them from making as sharp a turn to the right as to the left? Or are they just not very good drivers?

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Carpe hoc!

[ChiefScott]

They make right hand turns from the right side of the street. The make left hand turns from the right side of the street. They are closer to the curb when turning right than when they are turning left. Hence, they must make wider turns so as not to bump or jump the curb.

Beep-Beep.

[MrKnowItAll]

Well, gee. Now I feel stupid.

[ChiefScott]

Don't.

Those signs are for the truly stupid.
They are for those who try to pass a truck on the right side as the truck is making a right turn.

Safe driving!

[Nickrz]

Yeah. You can feel stupid only if and when your hood's been crushed by the ass-end of an 18-wheeler.

You don't sound like Mr. Know It All to me. Pthbbt! :)

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--
JMcC from SFCA
(Whacked-out hyperlink deleted - Nick)<-drop by


[Note: This message has been edited by Nickrz]

[HeadlessCow]

Trucks make wide left turns too, but they have the entire intersection to make them in because they are turning to the far side of the road. When they take a right turn they will pull as far left as they can so they cn make the turn onto the near side of the road. The signs are there to tell people not to try to pull past them on the right when they do this.

[ChiefScott]

Oh, Guillotined Bovine --

Isn't that what I said?

[tanstaafl]

Why not wide rights? Don't wides have rights too? I mean, just because...

What?

Oh...

Never mind.

[HubZilla]

"Wide Right"?

Something Bobby Bowden could've done without in the early 90's...

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"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument" - William McAdoo

[ravenous]

What about wide people's rights?

Is it true that sumo sized people do get two seats on the plane (for the price of one)? I mean, I'm 175 pounds and I can barely fit in a single seat. How about if I was 7 feet tall? What about tall rights?

Rav

[manhattan]

Scott Norwood.

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Livin' on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine

[popokis5]

I just read somewhere that a sumo wrestler once implanted 6 inches of fat on the top of his head to make the height requirement for sumos.

[ChiefScott]

I oversimplified my answer 'cause the answer was simple.
It was written tongue-in-cheek, mimicing an adult giving easy instructions to a child so the child could understand.

MrKnowItAll asked. I answered. MrKnowItAll got it. MrKnowItAll ackowledged getting it. You didn't.

Need I say more?

[MrKnowItAll]

Daddy, why is the sky blue? :)

[ChiefScott]

Do a search of Unca Cees' columns.
Then get upstairs, get in your jammies and get to bed.
Tomorrow's a school day.

[HeadlessCow]

ChiefScott, my post made it clear that the trucks will pull to the left lane to make a right turn. Yours only said that they turn right from the right side of the road. Your explanation creates the mental picture of the truck starting in the right lane and pulling most of the way across the intersection before turning. My explanation shows that the truck is in the left lane and the wide turn is made across the street being pulled out of. In my version a car could drive between the truck and the curb causing the accident. If I misunderstood what you wrote than I admit that my post was unneccessary but I thought your's was mistaken.

[mr trucker]

Trucks make wide turns both ways because there is usually between 40-50 ft. of trailer behind them, but most of the time you dont notice it on left turns. The correct way to make a right turn in a truck is to drive forward into the intersection and then make the turn, using the oppposing lanes if needed, but sometimes oncoming cars will be where the truck needs to be, so the trucker will need to make the buttonhook maneuver (swing left then turn right) to clear obstructions on the corner (curbs, light poles, pedestrians, etc..).
Hope this answers the question.

[HeadlessCow]

If he asked and you answered and your answer was wrong, but he got it...doesn't that then make his knowledge wrong? Obviously, yes. It doesn't matter if MrKnowitall got it if you told him wrong.

[MrKnowItAll]

Okay, so that no one thinks that I don't understand anymore, allow me to paraphrase the previous posts.

Wide right turns are necessary because the right turn (i.e. into the nearest lane) is sharper. Left turns (the farther lane) does not have to be as sharp, and no wide turn is necessary.

ChiefScott may not have spelled it all out for everyone, but he said enough that I understood what he meant immediately. (That's why I felt stupid. It's obvious.)

Mr Trucker, thanks for the professional's input. I see from your profile that this is so far your only post. Don't be a stranger.

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Carpe hoc!

[ChiefScott]

But if it is right then you're just talking out your ass.