Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU - Weeing in lay-bys is anti social and fines should apply

284 replies

Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 08:27

Item in the news- Dacorum Borough Council have stopped issuing fines for wild wees in lay-bys.
I know that this is on a technicality (anti littering law used and wild wees not classed as litter) but I think people weeing in lay-bys is appalling. It should be subject to fines. I can forgive toddlers/ young children but not adults. There are solutions for those with medical conditions that mean urgent wees are a symptom. And it’s always men. Women need urgent wees too (possibly more so, pregnancy etc) and we don’t pull up in lay-bys and squat in front of passing traffic. AIBU?

OP posts:
Handyweatherstation · 17/03/2024 14:55

MissingMoominMamma · 17/03/2024 14:25

I couldn’t see it to get it out, so I had to ask a woman with a dog, at the campsite 😳.

Show quote history

OMG!!! 😬😂

That's so awful/hilarious. Hope you both managed to laugh!

ScierraDoll · 17/03/2024 14:51

PanadTe · 17/03/2024 08:43

It’s shame the UK are so behind on this in comparison to European countries were there are toilets and Aires dotted all over.

If you really need to go you really need to go!

LOL have you ever stopped on a lay-by on a French country road. It's not just the smell of wee it's the stink of human faeces.
The motorways are well served by rest stops but the countryside is disgusting

DinnaeFashYersel · 17/03/2024 14:38

It's already against the law.

Breach of the peace covers this if a police officer is inclined to charge someone

lifebeginsaftercoffee · 17/03/2024 14:33

justasking111 · 17/03/2024 13:33

I'm fascinated I wouldn't know the difference between human poo and dog poo. How can you tell?

Size/smell and how interested my dog is in it 😱

AxolotlEars · 17/03/2024 14:29

Lots and lots of wild wees here...urine is sterile. I'm not flashing bits of my body. Dog poo and litter is a bigger issue

MissingMoominMamma · 17/03/2024 14:25

Handyweatherstation · 17/03/2024 14:17

Oof, not nice!

I work outside and keep a tick remover in the car, though have yet to use it.

Show quote history

I couldn’t see it to get it out, so I had to ask a woman with a dog, at the campsite 😳.

JudgeJ · 17/03/2024 14:21

we don’t pull up in lay-bys and squat in front of passing traffic.

Yes we do, a 4 door car, both doors open on the side away from the road, works very well in extremis!

lifebeginsaftercoffee · 17/03/2024 14:18

Another issue is that lots of public toilets now charge you - where my parents live (very busy tourist area) there are no longer any free public toilets. You need to have cash on you and pay 40p every time.

So even if you do find somewhere with a bathroom, you may not be able to access it anyway.

Dogdilemma2000 · 17/03/2024 14:18

Ofcourseshecan · 17/03/2024 08:41

May you never suffer from a dodgy bladder in a 5-mile tailback on the motorway, OP.

Edited

This.

Handyweatherstation · 17/03/2024 14:17

MissingMoominMamma · 17/03/2024 13:53

I got a tick doing that… 😬

Show quote history

Oof, not nice!

I work outside and keep a tick remover in the car, though have yet to use it.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 17/03/2024 14:16

Ofcourseshecan · 17/03/2024 08:41

May you never suffer from a dodgy bladder in a 5-mile tailback on the motorway, OP.

Edited

Indeed. Unless and until we have enough public loos, you can't fine people for wild weeing.

I nearly had to do this once on the A303. I was driving and driving and driving and my bladder was getting fuller and fuller and fuller. Thank goodness, glory be, a sign saying service station 2 miles away! I was saved. But I was absolutely going to stop in a layby, open the two passenger side doors and wee between them!

(Of course, after that one there are about four within the space of about 20 minutes. But there was a good 30 minute gap between the last one which I foolishly drove past and td the one I finally got to.)

Original poster
Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 14:07

@bubblebutt88 have you actually read my post? Where did I say everyone doing a wild wee is a lazy pig??

What part of finding it antisocial to see men openly pissing at the roadside and finding the smell of urine unpleasant makes me a nosey Parker?

OP posts:
TotalAbsenceOfImperialRaiment · 17/03/2024 13:58

I'm a woman and mastered the art of the alfresco wee during the pandemic. You can always find a bit of cover if you really need to. And there's something quite sensual about the touch of leaves on your naked bum. Watch out for nettles though.

MissingMoominMamma · 17/03/2024 13:53

Handyweatherstation · 17/03/2024 12:54

During my childhood, my parents would pull over next to a field gate and we'd climb over and find ourselves some privacy in the hedgerow.

The last time I peed outdoors was in the Cairmgorms. It was a long journey with nowhere to stop and I was desperate. OH pulled over and I nipped up a steep bank and over the other side, out of sight. Pulled down my trousers and let go, then looked around me. It was glorious - sunny day, warm breeze around my nethers, a valley full of flowering heather, absolutely beautiful and the best al fresco pee I've ever had.

I got a tick doing that… 😬

Kelvinator1 · 17/03/2024 13:47

Yep, the piles of tissue/loo roll gives it away, and the fact my dog ignore other dog poo, but will happily chow down on a human one.....

bubblebutt88 · 17/03/2024 13:47

Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 13:21

Someone earlier asked me
Why am I stopping in lay-bys? Strange you feel the need to challenge me on that but if you want to know then reasons like this:
to make a phone call
to find a tissue in my bag
to have a drink
to find and take a paracetamol for a headache
to tune in my radio
to get out of my car to have a stretch
What a bizarre response.

Edited

I don't care why you stop in lay bys. My question would be why do you feel the need to judge people without knowing anything about their medical history? Not everyone stopping for a wild wee is a lazy pig. Some people have medical issues. I used to have crippling anxiety that would manifest itself in bowel/bladder urgency. It was so bad that I stopped going places too far from home because I was so scared of being in a situation where I might need a wild wee and be judged by some nosey Parker like you.

Hopingitsahornyfinger · 17/03/2024 13:43

I assume it's the used tissues & loo roll @justasking111 - that's so grim @Kelvinator1 & should be punished harshly!

Original poster
Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 13:33

Ugh @Kelvinator1 that is super gross and should also be subject to fines. To be honest I’d be surprised if technically it isn’t. Anything actually being done about it is another thing of course.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 17/03/2024 13:33

I'm fascinated I wouldn't know the difference between human poo and dog poo. How can you tell?

Kelvinator1 · 17/03/2024 13:30

Weeing in laybys is a bit yuk, granted, but far bigger issue for me is the people who poo in my local country park all summer long, not even bothering to try bury or hide the poo & used tissues/loo roll.

Luddite26 · 17/03/2024 13:30

Who cares when we are paying water companies to dump our shit in rivers and the seas and they are paying themselves handsomely for their own con job.

IClaudine · 17/03/2024 13:29

Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 13:21

Someone earlier asked me
Why am I stopping in lay-bys? Strange you feel the need to challenge me on that but if you want to know then reasons like this:
to make a phone call
to find a tissue in my bag
to have a drink
to find and take a paracetamol for a headache
to tune in my radio
to get out of my car to have a stretch
What a bizarre response.

Edited

I was just curious to know how you knew they all stink of wee as I think most people rarely stop in lay-bys, except in an emergency like the need to wee urgently. You have explained. Thanks.

Original poster
Thriftnugget · 17/03/2024 13:28

@UseOfWeapons
No I’m not disgusted by that. Read @TheGhostOfKatesProlapse post. That’s the kind of thing I’ve witnessed and am referencing. No one would want to shame elderly or disabled people in that situation and I’m surprised you haven’t read greater nuance in my AIBU.

OP posts:
CutthroatDruTheViolent · 17/03/2024 13:27

I can't get annoyed with wees in lay-bys.

I can get annoyed by weeing in public places like city centres. Almost always men.

Ggttl · 17/03/2024 13:23

Pets wee outside far more. It seems a bit pointless to ban humans without banning pets. I wouldn’t bother.