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

@BluebellsareBlue
Thank you, the constant lay-bye was getting annoying 😉

Pissing yourself is hardly a medical emergency ffs

Also @Hateam @shallweorderpizza Wee, poop, vomit, etc can be cleaned. Clothes can be changed.
Lives can't be reclaimed once lost.
It's that simple.

No they aren't. It killed my uncle and cousin.

They were put on straight after I know it's a bit late then but I didn't think for a second they'd be able to open the door. DC was only 4, strapped tightly into a restrictive car seat in the middle seat and I genuinely didn't think it would be possible to even reach the door handle. It had never happened before and wasn't something that even crossed my mind as something that DC would attempt to do.

Until this happened today I honestly thought I wouldn’t stop in these circumstances, and I’d have argued the same as the rest of you (I’m very much a “rules control the fun” kinda gal!). But with daughter crying/about to wet her car seat and no junction for another 15 mins, I didn’t take much persuading that we should stop.

I think there are a lot of people pontificating on here OP that are in the 'until this happened' to us camp ... and might well actually do the same thing.

It happened. It's done. Next time you'll plan better, hopefully.

Granted it's easier with boys, but when DS was younger he used to pee in a coke bottle if he was desperate on a long trip. Never, ever would I pull over on a hard shoulder for him to relieve himself.

@shallweorderpizza

From the survey people posted, it seems like 'most posters' don't realize the danger. They don't even know that they must leave the car immediately.
After all, when you drive past a lay-by, it looks like an empty space. And in normal traffic, you'd check if a space was clear before driving into it anyway, so what's the danger?
Motorway driving also isn't part of the driving test and the SMART motorway etc also isn't part of the Highway Code IIRC.

The danger is twofold here:

1. Another broken down vehicle maneuvering into the layby may not have the precision of control, as the focus is on exiting traffic as quickly as possible. SO it's very likely to smash into anything that's already there.
2. When rejoining fast moving traffic on the motorway, people on the left lane won't be looking left, for vehicles getting off the layby! This increases the danger of a crash.

Exit procedures exist for a reason. National Highways don't pay people to do all that for fun. Lives are at risk. Nobody is taking any enjoyment from this.

These are the rules that you should have followed:

My child would pee themselves before I'd endanger our lives by stopping to wee on the motorway.

I commute every day and see this all the time. It really gets my goat.

Aside from the obvious danger, what these people don’t see is that at least a couple miles behind them the outside lane Electronic signs are flashing up with “Stranded vehicle ahead” with move Right arrows. These are then followed by a series of red X lane closed signs. In really heavy congestion this see four lanes of heavy traffic trying to get into three, all so your family can safely rejoin the motorway - causing huge inconvenience for your convenience.

Nope, never stop unless an actual emergency (sudden life threatening illness / car breakdown).

I did speed awareness training a few years ago and the one fact that has stayed with me is that your life expectancy on hard shoulder / sos lay-by is about 21minutes. 21 minutes!! If you ever do need to stop all passengers must leave car immediately and walk away behind barrier. Don’t ever stay in the car.

The enjoyment people are taking in telling others of deaths, they know someone who died, their child could have died, do you want your child to die is a bit ugh. Reminds me of car seat threads.

I’d probably have done the same.

Good grief!

Do your grandkids parents know that you did this?

If my parents or in-laws did this it would be the last time that my kids ever got in a car with them.

I cannot believe that anyone would be so irresponsible

I lost a dear friend who had to pull into an emergency lay by when her car broke down. A huge lorry came along, wasp in the cab distracted the driver and he ploughed into her car. The paramedics knew her well as she was a local nurse but couldn't ID her because the damage was so awful.

Exactly.
The OP did say “50mins” to get to each junction…and the M3 is only around 60miles in total…so must have been very slow moving traffic and most junctions are only a few miles apart.

@SiobhanSharpe As per above , getting out is the key thing here. You're not supposed to stop, do whatever in the car, then rejoin traffic. When emergency services arrive they close off the lane, reduce the speed limit etc for a safe exit.
@Ratfinkstinkypink Your child's situation is certainly a medical emergency but it doesn't change the danger of staying on the hard shoulder. If you've been stopping, suctioning and then rejoining traffic, you're very lucky to not have been hit.

100% I would let my passenger wee/poo or puke in the car rather than stop on the motorway. And I think most posters would feel the same.

Its scary that some people do not see the actual danger in what op did...to the occupants of her own can and others.

But dramatic.

It's about moral superiority, oh and a but of drama too..

You’d have been much safer just pulling off at the next junction and stopping on a normal roadside.

Massively unreasonable to ignore her in the first place. You can't expect a child to hold a wee for an hour without being seriously uncomforatble/miserable.

There’d have to be three “someone’s” to block the entire bay…

My boot popped open the first time I ever drove on a motorway. Had never done it before and never did it again. I had to stop just like you - that's a perfectly valid reason to stop.

Yes but actually, you’re waiting for the red X to be turned on to encourage traffic to move a lane over. They don’t do police escorting you back on anymore.
And only 1 in 5 motorists knew you had to call to let them know you were there..so tons of people aren’t even doing this according to a recent RAC survey.

These are safety issues from user error regardless of why they have stopped.

That's an emergency. But why were childlocks not on?