Who is at Fault When a Commercial Truck Performs a "Squeeze Play" and Crushes Your Car in an Intersection?
Navigating city streets and tight intersections in an 80,000-pound commercial semi-truck requires specialized training and intense spatial awareness. Because a standard trailer is 53 feet long, the rear wheels do not follow the same path as the front wheels during a turn. This phenomenon, known as "off-tracking," means the trailer will cut a much sharper corner than the tractor. To make a tight right turn without destroying sidewalks or traffic lights, truck drivers must swing wide into the left lane before executing the turn. However, this creates a massive, temporary gap on the truck's right side. If a passenger car enters this gap, and the truck completes its right turn, the car is violently crushed between the 40-ton trailer and the concrete curb. In the trucking industry, this deadly trap is known as a "squeeze play."
When a squeeze play crash occurs, the truck driver and the police officer will almost instantly blame the victim. The prevailing narrative is always: "The car tried to pass the truck on the right while it was turning." Determining who is at fault when a commercial truck performs a "squeeze play" and crushes your car requires an aggressive legal strategy to prove the truck driver failed to "buttonhook" the turn properly, thereby creating an illegal and deceptive trap for motorists.
Every state's CDL manual explicitly teaches the "buttonhook" method for making right turns. A driver must keep the rear of their trailer close to the right curb, pull straight out into the intersection, and then turn sharply right. This blocks the right lane, making it physically impossible for a car to sneak alongside. The alternative—the "jug-handle" turn, where the driver veers into the left lane before turning right—is explicitly condemned by CDL manuals because it deceives motorists into thinking the truck is changing lanes, inviting them into the deadly crush zone.
Proving the Truck Driver Created the Trap
To defeat the presumption that the passenger car was at fault, a plaintiff's attorney must systematically prove the truck driver violated fundamental commercial driving protocols:
By analyzing traffic camera footage, dashcams, or tire marks on the asphalt, an attorney can prove the driver executed a lazy "jug-handle" turn. If the driver moved their trailer completely out of the right lane, they surrendered the right-of-way. They cannot legally swing back into a lane they just vacated without ensuring it is clear.
Even if a squeeze play scenario begins to unfold, the driver is legally required to constantly scan their right-side convex mirrors during the entire duration of the turn. If they see a car entering the gap, they must immediately stop the truck. Crushing the car proves the driver never looked in their mirrors while completing the turn.
Many drivers use their left blinker when swinging left to make a right turn, confusing the cars behind them. Or, they fail to use a right turn signal at all. Misleading other motorists with improper signals is a direct violation of traffic laws and establishes clear negligence.
Overcoming the Police Report
Police officers rarely have CDLs and often misunderstand the physics of off-tracking. It is highly common for victims of a squeeze play to be wrongfully ticketed for "failure to yield." A specialized attorney can get these tickets dismissed by proving the truck driver's maneuver was structurally illegal.