Another Round Of "Is It Legal"

I was in Jersey City on Friday to deliver a load. I was still with my trainer. Immediately after leaving the consignee we had to make a left turn. There was a construction crew on the left corner on the near side of the road. They had cones set up in the middle of the road. As I turned left I knew my tires were going to take out a cone or two. I had no choice but to turn left bc the street was one way.

I stopped before I hit the cones and prepared to step out of the truck to either move the cones myself or to ask a member of the construction crew to move them until I cleared the turn.

My trainer was telling me to just keep going. "They're only cones", he said. He is a local/city driver. I am not- nor do I want to be. I did not keep going. I set the breaks and prepared to step out. Luckily one of the construction guys saw what I was doing and moved the cones for me before I had to exit the truck.

So what is the law on something like that? Is tearing through some cones illegal? In my mind it is, and even if it isn't, I still think it's incredibly rude to run over a work crew's cones with my tandems.

Thoughts...

Your concern and merciful attitude towards those poor, innocent cones is indeed commendable. However, it's better to run over a cone than to impede traffic.

Your concern and merciful attitude towards those poor, innocent cones is indeed commendable. However, it's better to run over a cone than to impede traffic.

Really? Maybe my concern for the cones has been built up too much from my time spent training students on the pad.

*In this scenario there was no traffic coming from left or right and it was only a three way intersection* But for the sake of your comment concerning impeding traffic we will assume there was traffic moving in all directions.

I've gotten out numerous times to move cones. Throw your hazards on and do your thing. Mine typically happen middle of the night though and I just move them backwards or closer to the median so they still serve their purpose. The best course of action is to use all available space and not need to move them but sometimes we misjudge or there just simply isn't enough room.

I recall fresh out of CDL school my trainer jumped out and threw cones off the roadway. Thats going about it the wrong way but I don't see an issue with moving them back a few feet as long as its not exposing a large hazard that they're meant to draw attention to.

I'm not sure if Bruce is being serious when he says

it's better to run over a cone than to impede traffic.

because he jokes around alot, but I disagree with that statement. If you're in a busy parking lot or street do you G.O.A.L. and make others wait? Thats also impeding traffic rather than risk property damage. Even though its just a cone its still somebody else's property that they'll now need to replace ($$) due to your negligence. Just because they may have not placed them correctly to allow adequate room for all vehicles to maneuver doesn't give us the right to damage or destroy others property.

Just my opinion and the way I handle it, you're the captain of your ship and ultimately responsible for the decision you make.

Your concern and merciful attitude towards those poor, innocent cones is indeed commendable. However, it's better to run over a cone than to impede traffic.

Really? Maybe my concern for the cones has been built up too much from my time spent training students on the pad.

*In this scenario there was no traffic coming from left or right and it was only a three way intersection* But for the sake of your comment concerning impeding traffic we will assume there was traffic moving in all directions.

Whether or not there were actually cars there is not relevant to the issue of impeding traffic. I know that sounds dumb, but the issue is such that at any moment there could be a vehicle that comes down this road and becomes impeded by your stopped truck. Impeding traffic is any stop or unnecessary slowing of speed that is not directed by a traffic sign, device, or officer. This is the case even on a road with no traffic at all.

Really, it's a judgement call. Road construction and truck maneuvering are often at odds due to the physics of each profession. In one situation, the driver might stop and move cones. In another, he might feel that it's best to clip a cone to keep traffic flowing.

In road construction, cones are considered collateral damage by road construction companies.

And if you stop to move a cone, are you going to stop again to put it back in it's original position?

Look at this in simplistic terms:

Are the cones the personal property of someone or some entity? Yes

Do you have the right to destroy someone's or some entity's personal property, even if it's in your way? No

Whether it's "just a cone", or a car, or a construction worker, you don't have the right to run it over If it can be avoided. Try to recognize the fact that you may not be able to make the turn before actually pulling into the intersection. Do the right thing.

That's my take on it.

I wonder how often this is an issue. Rarely?

Road crews are trained about creating traffic lanes in construction zones, just as truck drivers are trained in close maneuvering. Obviously, problems can happen, but this seems to be "much ado about nothing".

Probably less than rarely.

But still an honest question deserving a proper answer.

Typical cones are made of rubber for a reason lol I did traffic control for a year and had to reset a few here n there.....Now those big barrel types are a different story (never dealt with em) So yeah them shiney new cones do last a LONG time out there.....Someone just recently stole my buddies 5 he had near the road (dirt) to keep idiots from riding up near his fence and running over the water meter....So now we got 21, 2 gallon buckets with Aguave cactus in em, see how long they last lol