You're stopped at a red light when an 18-wheeler pulls alongside you in the left lane. The light changes, and suddenly the massive trailer swings right, directly into your path. By the time you realize what's happening, there's nowhere to go. These wide right turns often leave accident victims suffering injuries that change their lives forever.
If a commercial vehicle making a wide right turn has injured you or someone you love, a Richmond truck accident lawyer can investigate the driver's actions and hold the responsible parties accountable. These crashes rarely happen by accident; they happen when truck drivers fail to follow basic safety protocols designed to protect everyone else on the road.
What Makes Wide Right Turns So Dangerous?
Commercial trucks can't turn like passenger vehicles. An 18-wheeler measures 70 to 75 feet from front bumper to rear trailer door when hauling a standard 53-foot trailer. The cab turns on a much tighter radius than the trailer, which swings wide even when the truck is turning right. This creates what truckers call a "button-hook" turn: the truck initially moves left before cutting hard right to complete the turn while keeping the trailer close to the curb.
Federal regulations require commercial motor vehicles to obey all state and local traffic laws. Virginia Code § 46.2-846 reinforces this by requiring vehicles to make right turns "as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway." The phrase "as practicable" recognizes that large vehicles have physical space limitations, but it doesn't eliminate the driver's duty to turn safely or authorize occupying other lanes without regard for traffic already present.
The Blind Spot That Swallows Vehicles
Every commercial truck has four massive blind spots. The right-side blind spot extends the entire length of the trailer and several lanes out. When a truck begins a wide right turn, any vehicle in that zone becomes invisible to the driver.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) formally recognizes these areas as "No-Zones" where crashes are most likely to occur because truck drivers cannot see passenger vehicles. Virginia law and federal regulations require drivers to verify their blind spots are clear before executing wide turns, but many drivers check mirrors too quickly or skip this step entirely under pressure to keep moving.
The Speed Factor That Multiplies Risk
Some truck drivers attempt wide right turns at speeds that don't allow time for correction. A turn that should happen at 5 or 10 mph occurs at 15 to 20 mph instead. Virginia law requires drivers to stay within marked lanes and not move from a lane until the driver has determined the movement can be made safely. The law also requires drivers to ensure a movement can be made safely before changing lanes or turning.
When The Mottley Law Firm examines wide right turn accidents, speed analysis often reveals drivers who prioritized schedule over safety and couldn't stop when something appeared in their turning path.
How These Truck Accidents Actually Happen
Wide right-turn truck accidents follow predictable patterns. Understanding these patterns helps victims and their attorneys prove what went wrong.
The Squeeze Play Collision
This happens when a truck and a smaller vehicle travel side-by-side through an intersection. The truck begins turning right, and the trailer sweeps into the adjacent lane, crushing or sideswiping the passenger vehicle against the curb, a light pole, or another fixed object.
The Multi-Lane Sweep
Large trucks making right turns sometimes need to use two or even three lanes to complete the maneuver. When drivers fail to control all lanes they're using, or don't properly signal their intentions, vehicles in the swept lanes face sudden, unavoidable impacts.
How Virginia Drivers Can Protect Themselves Around Turning Trucks
You can't control whether truck drivers follow safety regulations, but you can control your own positioning and awareness around commercial vehicles.
Don’t Linger Beside Trucks
If a truck stops in the lane to your left at a red light, you're likely in the driver's blind spot. Either drop back behind the truck or move ahead of it if traffic allows. The most dangerous position is directly beside the trailer's middle section.
Watch the Truck's Front Wheels
The trailer will always move differently than the cab. When a truck's front wheels turn left while the turn signal indicates right, that's your warning that the trailer is about to sweep right. Create distance immediately.
Assume You're Invisible
If you can't see the truck's side mirrors, the driver definitely can't see you. Even if you can see the mirrors, assume the driver isn't looking at them. Defensive driving around trucks means never relying on truck drivers to see you.
Give Trucks Extra Space
Professional truck drivers appreciate it when smaller vehicles hang back slightly, creating the room needed for wide turns. That extra 10 to 15 feet of space might feel excessive, but it prevents you from becoming a statistic.
Never Squeeze Past a Turning Truck
Some drivers see a truck beginning a wide right turn and think they can slip through the gap on the inside. This decision kills people every year. No appointment, deadline, or destination is worth gambling against 40 tons of moving steel.