Are You In The Ditch?

Was gonna say jug/button combo. If you remember the simulator in top gun, it forced us to do jug handles even though it was verboten in cdl school.

BTW, I think TwoSides deserves commendation for posting his account and the photos. Totally honest and unselfish. It is tough to post reports about our mistakes . But it’s all about helping new drivers avoid doing the same thing.

While looking at TwoSides11 photos the second one shows a lot of water in the shoulder on the right by the stop sign. Not knowing how deep that "puddle" is would make someone want to swing wide just in case the trailer went into a deep hole on the right and an electrical pole is very close to the sign. He is a man of character to tell his story but surely has handled it in a good way and learned from his mistakes.

Jugs, buttons, handles, plus all their combinations, that's quite complicated. I remember what my trainer told me about turns, and I find his words very useful - easy to remember, simple, and covers every possible scenario of turning. He said: give yourself every available inch of space! He meant that even if you can make it tighter, it is still better/safer to swing wider. After a few months of driving, I was glad to realize that it became a second nature. Of course, cars, traffic, poles and many other things inevitably reduce our desired radius, but still I try to swing as wide as possible. If I make a right turn, and I see a car approaching far enough, I never hesitate to take its lane. The car will have to stop and wait until I complete my move and return into my lane. Not exactly what they told us at school, but definitely better then hitting a pole or sliding into a ditch.