Q&A - Making Wide Right Turn in Motorhome

Q&A ImageThey are allowed by law to swing wide if necessary in order to make turns at intersections. If you don't heed the signal and pull along side you could be squeezed between the truck and the curb.

Can you site the statuate where this is a defined law? I have 40+ diesel motorhome with a car so about 60ft long. I was signaling to turn and I had this problem. I was in a middle lane  because I needed the same wide turn as a truck.

There was no one bedside me I triple checked this situation. I started a turn and as I did a vehicle rushed up beside me and I hit them. I was found at fault by because I was not in the legal turn lane.

I was not ticketed but was found at fault.

Searching through the site content, I can point to the case of Tang v Rogers where a driver swung wide before making a right turn into their driveway and then collided with another driver who attempted to pass on the right. The case discusses vehicle position for making a right turn as set out in Section 165 MVA.

A Photos of Concern article examines a very similar situation with references to the applicable law.

ICBC provides instruction for this situation on page 31 of Chapter 4 of their Towing a Recreational Trailer Guide. It advises that "When it is necessaryto move your vehicle outside your lane to negotiate a sharp turn, it’s your responsibility to be certain you can move safely without holding up traffic."

Finally, Behaviour Around Heavy Trucks outlines what the driver behind you should have been thinking.