moonshiner's turn

plural moonshiners' turns

1. UScolloquialA rapid illegal U-turn performed by putting the car in neutral and applying the hand brake, thereby producing a controlled skid, with the car still moving backwards when forward power is again applied.

   Did you see the moonshiner’s turn he pulled in that chase scene?

   1 more example

   One sure way to cause an accident is with your basic "moonshiner's" or "bootlegger's" turn. Whiz down the road at about sixty or seventy, throw the gearshift into neutral, cut the wheel to the left, and hit the emergency brake with one good wallop while holding the brake release out with your left hand.

   1979 March, P. J. O'Rourke, “How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink”, in National Lampoon, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2003

   Synonyms: bootlegger reverse, handbrake turn