Right Turn with a 53-Foot Trailer, a Blocked Curb Lane, and a Cyclist
You are driving a 53-foot van with a 102-inch beam through a downtown intersection in Jackson. You want to turn right onto a two-lane street. Your lane is the right lane of a three-lane one-way, but a delivery van is parked in the curb lane 40 feet before the corner, so you must approach from the center lane. A cyclist is waiting in the bike lane to your right, slightly behind your cab. The corner has a stop line, a traffic signal, and a concrete curb with a fire hydrant. Your trailer's rear tandem is about 38 feet behind the tractor's drive axle. The turn is tight: the new street's right lane is only 11 feet wide, and a utility pole is 8 feet from the curb.
1. Where should you position the tractor, and when should you begin the turn?
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Approach from the center lane because the curb lane is blocked, but use the full legal width of that lane and keep the tractor as far left as is safe to increase the effective turning radius. Signal early, slow to a crawl, and check both mirrors. For a right turn in a long combination, do not begin the turn when the cab reaches the corner; wait until the tractor's drive axle is near the corner so the trailer has room to follow. Keep the trailer's right tandem visible in the right mirror. Starting too early is what drags the trailer over the curb or hydrant.
2. The cyclist begins to move forward on your right. What do you do?
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Stop and yield. The cyclist is on your right and may be going straight or may be overtaken by your trailer; a right-turning tractor-trailer has a large blind area and the trailer will cut across that space. Do not roll forward hoping the cyclist will stop, and do not swing left across the lane without checking. Wait until the cyclist has cleared the conflict area or clearly yielded, then complete the turn slowly. If the cyclist's position is unclear, a brief stop and a direct look, plus a mirror check, is the correct judgment call.
3. How should you use the mirrors, and what off-tracking should you expect?
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Expect significant off-tracking: the trailer's rear tandem follows a path several feet inside the tractor's path, so the right rear trailer tires can approach the curb even when the tractor is well clear. Use the right flat mirror to watch the trailer tires and the left mirror to keep the trailer from swinging into the adjacent lane. Because the new right lane is only 11 feet wide and the pole is 8 feet from the curb, there is little margin. If the trailer tires head for the curb, stop, pull forward to reset the angle, and take the turn again; do not continue and hope the trailer clears. A spotter is useful if available.