So I was leaving my apartment, and just past the nearest intersection, a semi, with full-size cargo trailer, apparently wants to go in the opposite direction it is now. So it, with painful slowness, does a U-turn about ten feet before the intersection, blocking all five lanes of traffic for about two or three minutes.
Now, this pissed me off big time. But then it occurred to me: is there any way this was proper and legal? How are semis supposed to do this kind of maneuver? Go around a block? But even/especially in small urban and suburban areas, that would likely take it through residential side-streets, and could take forever, depending on area. U-turn in a parking lot? But that’s an even tighter fit.
So just how are trucks legally allowed to change direction if needed?
/ I know this is GQ, but…in light of the recent rental truck threads, I had this image of some Doper stuck in an intersection, typing madly to post this question as people around him honked/
I am a truck driver. I don’t know if you are exaggerating or if there where other circumstances but with five lanes of traffic a truck should be able to pull a U-Turn in 15-20 seconds.
AFAIK there are no laws regarding the maneuvers trucks occasionally have to make such as U-Turns or backing onto or off of a street. Mostly it’s common sense, if you are causing unreasonable traffic or safety problems and a cop sees you you are going to get a ticket. Most cops understand the maneuvers big trucks have to make and often will help out by holding up traffic if they happen to come by.
One problem Truck drivers run into is while in the middle of a maneuver that should only take 30 seconds cars try to drive around the truck or pull up very close to it making the whole process take much more time.