to stop in motorway SOS lay-by so DD could wee

Its really dangerous, my friend broke down and managed to get to the layby and HGV caught the back of it and smash and squished it, luckliy they were out of the car and behind a barrier, but only for about 2 mins before it hit. The people in the car are at much more risk than your dd and dh outside.

the M3 junction takes you straight from the M25, there’s no option to come off, and there wasn’t anywhere we could have stopped earlier.

From the m25 junction to J3 of the M3 (Bagshot/Lightwater) normally takes me around 5 minutes the many times I’ve driven it.

Been there, done that, don't overthink it. It's not ideal and being stuck in roadworks/traffic limited your options. Kids go from "I might need a wee" to "WEE" in minutes even if they go before you set off. My DS's have wee'd in a bottle in the car but girls can't do that with any sort of privacy/dignity and I have taken DD for a wee in similar circumstances.

As in ‘for heavens sake woman’

It’s not innovative language, Mrs

It's lay-by not lay-bye

Why didn't you stop when she told you she needed the loo before joining the motorway?

I suspect you'll get a fine and points on your license, SOS lay-bys tend to be covered by cameras.

Arguably not?

curious, in what circumstances do you believe you could win the argument that needing a wee is a medical emergency? You all need to plan better, it’s illegal for a reason.

She told you she needed it before you got on the motorway. Why didn’t you listen to her?

It's not only dangerous because of someone else potentially needing it. The hard shoulder is a dangerous place to be - pedestrians in close proximity to fast moving traffic should be avoided unless absolutely essential. Needing the loo is a poor reason to risk getting your child out of the car in a motorway layby or hard shoulder.

If you were in an SOS lay-by your also not supposed to just drive off because that is equally dangerous your supposed to wait for assistance to safely rejoin the main carriageway

Needing a wee is not a medical emergency regardless of how desperate you get, the worse thing that would happen is a pair of wet pants and a wet seat, not ideal but not a medical emergency.

“From what he reports it’s clearly not the first time this spot has been used in this way….”
Doesn’t really make it ok, it’s an incredibly dangerous place to stop.

There are plenty of junctions around the top of the M3 travelling away from the m25 just a few minutes apart.

If it is a smart motorway I would expect a fine, as there are cameras everywhere watching what is happening. Therefore they will see it wasn't an emergency

From gov.uk

There are only two legal uses for the hard shoulder – as a lane for emergency vehicles attending an incident and as a refuge for broken down vehicles. Using it at any other time unless instructed to do so by traffic officers or roadworks signs can land you with a £100 fine and three points on your licence. Stopping because a passenger feels unwell or needs the toilet, to use your mobile phone or because you are feeling tired are not acceptable uses for the hard shoulder

Very dangerous.

next time listen to her when she first says she needs a wee instead of deciding to ignore her then put lives at risk.

It’s an offence to stop on the hard shoulder; usual penalty is a band A fine (or possibly a fixed penalty), but no penalty points.

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/offences-appropriate-for-imposition-of-fine-or-discharge/4-offences-appropriate-for-imposition-of-fine-or-discharge/#Stop_on_hard_shoulder

A colleague broke down and managed to get to one of these. Fortunately he'd got out and stood behind the barrier...as an artic drove into/caught the back of the car. The driver side of the car was scrunched like a tin can.

Moral of the story is that lay-bys and refuges are for proper emergencies.

You should be fined….what you did was illegal……no one was having a heart attack or a stroke …..worst case scenario was that she wet herself in the car

Needing a wee is not a medical emergency. Would you call an ambulance for it?

You can’t be stopping on motorways to pee woman

Wtf "woman".

Medical emergency 🤣

Illegal and incredibly dangerous. And no, not an emergency.

Please never, ever do this again.

To be honest, I hope you do get a fine. That's incredibly dangerous, especially on a Smart motorway. What if a vehicle with a genuine emergency/break down etc needed that layby to get off the live lane? It's also dangerous to slow down/speed up using a live line to enter and leave the lay by. The control room usually puts up speed restriction and lane closure when a broken down vehicle is leaving a lay by and rejoining the live lane. With Smart motorways having cameras everywhere, I hope they have a zero tolerance approach to people stopping illegally.

I think it was a bit naive to think a child could wait an hour for the loo and not anticipate traffic problems holding you up but it’s done now. You really shouldn’t have done it but hopefully it was a one-off. We still have the travel potty bags in the car for this type of situation.

Oh I didn’t realise it was the motorway

No that it’s dangerous. If you really didn’t have anything for her to pee in, then she’d have to pee on a jumper in a plastic bag or something and then wash it.

You can’t be stopping on motorways to pee woman