A Three Point Turn with a Trailer

SoundGuy wrote:

nomad297 wrote:
I have a 33' long trailer that I have to back into my 400' long driveway off of a main road with four lanes and a center turning lane. The speed limit is 35, but most are doing around 50, so it can be a little nerve wracking at times. It doesn't help that I live in the Washington, DC metro area where considerate drivers are nonexistent.

I pull up from the main road with my driveway on the right, just in front of my truck, turn my flashers on, drop my wife off, wait until I see a break in traffic, then jump out into the opposite side of the road, across the turning lane. My wife jumps out into the street to ward off traffic and I back right in.

I have this maneuver mastered and it only takes me about a minute to get completely off the road, but I still get the occasional middle finger, yell or horn -- I don't care -- it's the street I live on and I need to get into my driveway, and I do it in a very considerate manner. I just ignore the butt heads.

Bruce

Bruce:

I'm on a typical suburban street and fortunately don't have the volume of traffic to deal with as you do but we do still have the same buttheads who in trying to avoid a nearby traffic light will tear down our street as a shortcut. :M Despite the bravado from those claiming to "own the street" as they block the street with their trailer the reality is they own nothing and buttheads will do whatever buttheads want to do regardless of what any of us may think of them. With that in mind it seems to me about the only thing one can do is to make yourself as visible as possible so many years ago I built a Trailer Lights Dongle (4 pics) that will flash ALL the lights on the trailer, not just the rear tail lights.



No, this doesn't suddenly transform a butthead into a prince or princess as he/she tears down the street but it does serve to make your truck / trailer as visible as possible as you back off the street on to your driveway. I use mine religiously so I've since wired mine into a box mounted on the trailer tongue for even greater convenience. Cost is minimal and IMO certainly worth using in a situation like yours, and mine. :B

Only thing that puzzles me. I live in the middle of the block. There are intersections less than 50 yards in both direction. But the oncoming drivers refuse to use them to go around the block. So I don't worry about it. They can sit there and wait.