Trucks turning into other lanes | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Trucks turning into other lanes

casacrow said:
I'm glad I stumbled on this thread. I have made that right turn a few hundred times in a tractor trailer. I used to always turn right, by travelling from center lane to center lane. Now I always turn right from the right lane to the right lane. I would love to explain myself!
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I'm genuinely happy you found this thread, cause I'm interested to hear the perspective from a Truck driver that frequents this intersection. :icon_smile:

casacrow said:
I have noticed that smaller vehicles tend to be in more of a hurry at this exit ramp/right turn than most in the GTA.
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Agreed! :cool: ...and as someone who works in Emergency Services in the Peel Region, I know this first hand.

casacrow said:
As I said, I used to always make that right hand turn, from center lane to center lane. I have seen some pretty crazy moves by vehicles there, and can remember three in particular.

I was in the center lane, intending on turning right, into the center lane. Traffic was slowing, as the light had just turned red. I had several vehicles in front of me, also stopping for the light. I had two cars, accelerate past me in the left lane, then had both cut in front of me, into my lane at the stop. I was running a heavy B-Train that day... I had enough room to stop, but was less than comfortable with the situation. The two cars made a right hand turn when the light turned green. I guess they really just didn't want to be behind me.

Another time I was approaching the same intersection. I was in the center lane, intending on turning right, into the center lane, and was coming to a stop. Traffic was real light. There were no vehicles in front. There was a car approaching the stoplight, in the left lane, coming up my left side. Just right before the lights(red at the time), the car cut in front of me, and shot straight across to the far right lane. I thought they were done....there was a pick up truck approaching the stoplight on my right in the right lane, and it almost hit the car. It was real damn close.
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Those 2 examples have no bearing on a Tractor Trailer being in the middle lane wanting to go right. It's just bad drivers driving badly. The first example can easily happen while you are in the right most lane.

casacrow said:
And the third thing has happened plenty of times. When turning right, from center lane to center lane, you will have to nose into the far left lane, to keep your trailer from entering the far right lane. This causes no problems with left lane eastbound traffic as there is none when making a right on a green light. But, what happens almost every time, when there is a lot of traffic, is that the cars in the far right lane will split and enter both the right lane and center lane. I don't know if it is a lack of patience, or the vehicles assuming that I will be turning from center lane to left lane, but it forces me to stay left and pull my trailer over to avoid contact with the vehicles. This forces me to make an illegal turn, to avoid those behind me making an illegal turn.
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This is a very tricky situation, and I sympathize....and discussing it with you is difficult because you are saying that you can make the right turn from the right lane without blocking the centre lane. That's amazing, as I have yet to see a truck do this. They always cut into the centre lane....and in some instances their front bumper even dip into the left most lane.

If a truck driver can make the right turn from the right lane without cutting into another live lane, then my point is moot. but unfortunate, from my experiences, you are a minority in truck driving skill. Just as I am a minority of motorists who stay in their appropriate lane when making a turn.

casacrow said:
One thing that I do notice though, is vehicles turning right, from center lane to center lane, often cut into my right lane when making the their turn. Instead of travelling in a nice constant radius, often they cut across at a 45 entering my right lane....
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I think this is more of a problem with motorists today and their lack of skill, rather than this intersection in general. But I agree 100%, as I have seen it in my car/bike when turning and people come into your lane. The fact that people do it with a HUGE truck in the other lane is just ridiculous.

casacrow said:
just curious original poster..... did the truck actually enter your lane? It is possible you cut the corner and entered his lane? Was everyone in their correct lanes and things just seemed close? I don't doubt that a truck could have entered your lane, not all truck drivers make the best decisions all the time.
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As I mentioned in my original post, I am very aware of the trucks going wide from the right lane so I am very mindful to stay out of their way. I am also very adamant on staying in my own lane when I turn and when I am turning right from the center lane I am sure to go quite wide. (even my drawing in the first post shows the "lines" that I think should be taken.

The last time this occurred the truck was very much in my lane, and I had even gone a bit wide into the left most lane as I saw that he was moving quite quickly and with no intention on slowing. That truck was in quite a hurry (as i find alot of them are) and he quickly overtook me on Queen and the last I saw him he was still going Eastbound on Queen past Bramalea rd at a good trot.
 
DownUnder said:
In Aus the trucks have signs reading "Do not overtake turning vehicle". That means on either side of it. Makes the trucks life a LOT easier and makes it safer for everyone around them. When learning to drive, instructors teach not to get near a truck once it indicates to turn at an intersection. The cops hand out hefty fines if you dont obey the signs too.
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Sounds like the Aussies have the right idea. Though many other places in the world have better driving lessons, practices and laws then in North America.

If the law (in regards to the trucks) were to change tomorrow to be the same as it was in Australia, I would be satisfied and would drive accordingly.


Baggsy said:
Getting back to the OP's original question, I think that he should try to be more patient, and wait for a clear opportunity to pass the truck on the straight.
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Baggy, you're msising the point. It's not about overtaking trucks...it's about a truck T-boning the side of your vehicle when you are clearly infront of it.

You post pictures of cars being crushed on the right side of the truck, but no one is arguing you shouldn't cut inside the turning radius of a tractor trailer. This is about trucks nosing their cabs into a live lane and potentially causing an accident.
 
Paul said:
I don't think right turns should be allowed on a red from the middle lane IMO.
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I agree.

I thought it was illegal for years until I actually dug into the HTA looking for it. I'll bet there have been some tickets for it too, but only after it results in a collision.
 
Aslan said:
I agree.

I thought it was illegal for years until I actually dug into the HTA looking for it. I'll bet there have been some tickets for it too, but only after it results in a collision.
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I've always wondered if it was. It's actually allowed?!
 
Umm....well......I should have paid more attention to the original post and the picture.

The post was about the Queen exit. I rarely take it.

I thought it was about the Mayfield exit, that I take all the time.

My comments must have sounded a lil stoopid. Apologies y'all!
 
If the truck tried to turn right from center lane to center lane, then you would be complaining that the trailer cuts into the right lane...
You know that every time you see a truck turning in that spot, from the right hand lane, that the truck will come wide into the center lane. Almost every time! Why not just adjust so your not in the center lane beside it when the truck swings wide?
"If I was on my bike, I would be dead..."
If you were on your bike, it would be so much easier for you to make some room for the truck....
 
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raginduck said:
If the truck tried to turn right from center lane to center lane, then you would be complaining that the trailer cuts into the right lane...
You know that every time you see a truck turning in that spot, from the right hand lane, that the truck will come wide into the center lane. Almost every time! Why not just adjust so your not in the center lane beside it when the truck swings wide?
"If I was on my bike, I would be dead..."
If you were on your bike, it would be so much easier for you to make some room for the truck....
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People expect trucks to make wide turns. I find, that these days, there are far fewer of what I would call 'professional drivers' behind the wheels of transports though. It used to be routine that a trucker would take the centre lane, in such a place, knowing that he would be turning wide. Now? Not so much.

I get ****** off at car drivers who cut in front of trucks and then nail their brakes, without thought to what the truck may be incapable of doing, but I hold everyone to a fairly high standard. Truckers need to think ahead even more than do passenger vehicle drivers.
 
slowbird said:
Sounds like the Aussies have the right idea. Though many other places in the world have better driving lessons, practices and laws then in North America.

If the law (in regards to the trucks) were to change tomorrow to be the same as it was in Australia, I would be satisfied and would drive accordingly.




Baggy, you're msising the point. It's not about overtaking trucks...it's about a truck T-boning the side of your vehicle when you are clearly infront of it.

You post pictures of cars being crushed on the right side of the truck, but no one is arguing you shouldn't cut inside the turning radius of a tractor trailer. This is about trucks nosing their cabs into a live lane and potentially causing an accident.
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I give trucks the extra room they need regardless...
I don't need a law to tell me this... common sense and self preservation are enough.
 
Yesterday, on the way home from work, I had one of those big garbage haulers take the racing line on me, on the ramp from 410 north to Derry east. I kid you not. He took the centre lane, turned right clipping the inside corner, then ran it all the way out to the left lane on Derry, at speed. Another clip for my next Jackassery video.
 
Post or pm me a link to that vid when you can.
 
Will do. I've got about have the clips I need for the new video now, if I include the Toronto cop who 'stunted' past me on the 427 around 5:30am, a couple of days back.
 
I'm also with Turbo (and Brian P) on this one: Either way the trucker will have to control traffic, and he's better off doing so while watching his cab on the left side, rather than having to watch his trailer sweep to make sure he's not cutting off too much of that inside RH turning lane. Remember that not all truckers are equal, and some will probably swing wider there because they're not as good at estimating the trailer sweep - from the looks of it, swinging into the far left EB lane on that right turn is totally unneccessary: those are probably trucker n00bs.

caboose483 said:
Then why do trucks make left turns from the RH left turn lane?
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Because trucks have the additional room of crossing the intersection, which makes making a left turn from the RH lane less-drastic in (regards to required road space) than the sweep required for a right-turn.
 
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on a two lane road (one way each direction), if a truck pulls onto the shoulder with intentions of making a left turn, who has the right of way?

the truck is not in motion of the turn, completely parallel and almost at a stop
 
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Your best bet would be to get a brain! The trailer on the truck does not "just" follow the path of the tractor! If he used the center lane like you suggest, the trailer would track through the right lane where some other person would be trying to squeeze through and run them over! The reason they over shoot their lane is to compensate for the trailer! Much better to put the tractor in an extra lane where you can see the other vehicles and react, rather than "hope" no one is trying to beat the trailer through the lane in the "blind spot" and run them over!
 
Vroom said:
Your best bet would be to get a brain! The trailer on the truck does not "just" follow the path of the tractor! If he used the center lane like you suggest, the trailer would track through the right lane where some other person would be trying to squeeze through and run them over! The reason they over shoot their lane is to compensate for the trailer! Much better to put the tractor in an extra lane where you can see the other vehicles and react, rather than "hope" no one is trying to beat the trailer through the lane in the "blind spot" and run them over!
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Perhaps, except that in many cases the truck has a THIRD lane that he can swing wide into, rather than cutting off the inside lane as they so frequently do. The driver of the truck also has a duty to not put other road users at risk.
 
Wow. thread res.

I have e-mailed the official a long time ago in regards to this problem. had to follow a dizzying chain of people for who to complain to about having some kind of "trucks must use center lane" or soemthign to that effect.

Havent heard back. I've also moved out of Brampton and though my commute is 3x as long and I probably encounter twice as many Tractor trailers I'm much happier with the driving I'm encountering. (locally)
 
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