Has anyone in Wales been stopped my police to check where you're going? Talk to me

[Justwantacuddle]

I need to go and see my mum. I can't cope anymore. I will social distance, but I need to see somebody. She's 50 miles away. I am stopping for fuel locally to me and going nowhere else. Stopping nowhere. I've self isolated for bloody months anyway. Only online deliveries. I'm as low risk as humanly possible right now.

I only moved last year, I haven't changed my address on some things yet. I have a drivers license and multiple letters from tax office with her address on.

If you've been stopped, how did it go? Would they just look at my license with a local address and send me on my way?

I’ve travelled, not as far as you but 15/20 miles and not been stopped. I think it’s unlikely

DH travelled 20 miles to see his dad and wasn't stopped

One of his friends was fishing , a policeman talked to him , and he was given an hour to pack up and go home as he wasn't on his nearest beach

I’ve travelled around a bit and not been stopped at all. My daughter is going to work everyday and not been stopped. I’ve heard of them stopping cars on the A470 once at the beginning of lockdown but not since. Caring for vulnerable people and bringing them shopping is allowed so maybe take a bag of shopping with you.

Does she live near a tourist area? A lot if the Police in Wales who were stopping people seemed to be looking at main roads going to attractions, the beach, popular second home areas etc.

Would they just look at my license with a local address and send me on my way

They might do, I suppose you'd need a credible story about where you'd been that you could relate without looking nervous or contradicting yourself so the police officer would know that you're lying, remember they're used to talking to people trying to deceive them.

Isn't there a 5 mile rule in Wales? So most of the journey you will be 'out of bounds' anyway? But are you allowed to travel to help vulnerable people? You could say that you'd not been able to get in touch with your DM so were concerned for her welfare?

I would have thought that the chances of being stopped are low as they're more interested in stopping people congregating in beauty spots and coastal areas rather than normal day to day business and if you're rural, normal amenities like supermarkets and doctors might be more than 5 miles away anyway.

And it's likely that if you're stopped, the worst that could happen is that they'll tell you to turn round and go home, so not the end of the world.

But you really should update your documents. You can be fined if your licence and car registration are not registered to the correct address and it can cause problems if you have an accident or your car is stolen - eg if you live somewhere different to where your insurer thinks you live, it's a different risk profile (and they can find out, remember that your mobile phone contains a complete record of your day to day movements).

I think it depends on where you want to go. I've travelled up yo 20 miles for work daily and never seen a police car. I've travelled over 10 miles to my parents (it's local for this area!) and no police cars. However, I know that there are 'hot spots' where people are stopped - mostly travelling west for our area and we haven't risked trying to see MIL because we know we would be stopped. As a pp said, if you had a few bags of shopping and said you were doing a welfare visit you might be OK.

Just go you'll be fine. I've worked since day one of lockdown so I've travelled everyday, I've never been stopped or questioned. I'm not in wales though.

Don't overthink it, life is still quite normal out there!

Don’t try to pretend you live at your mum’s - they can check where your car is registered with anpr

But yes, you are allowed to travel to care for vulnerable people. Your post makes it sound more as if you are the vulnerable one (which is completely understandable of course) but as pp says I would take a grocery shop with you and be completely honest about where you are travelling to and from.

I have been visiting (obvs garden only) my Widowed mum in her 80s - I am in wales too but luckily mum lives in the same village as me. If she lived further away I would still needed to see her - but would have gone much less frequently (one big shop a fortnight, say)

Hope you see your mum safely soon

I live in England but only a couple of miles from the Welsh border. At the start if lockdown there were police roadblocks on the border main roads, but apart from Easter weekend I've not heard of any since (and I follow all local news and town/village Facebook pages so would definitely hear about it!). I also follow the main NWales news paper online and there have been no recent reports of police checks on A55 or A5 apart from on bank holiday weekends. As long as you are in a car on your own which is not visibly packed with stuff which makes it look like you're on a leisure trip then I'd say your chances if being pulled up are slim.

Take some shopping with you so if you’re stopped you can say you’re taking it to your vulnerable relative.

Hi OP yes I've been stopped, it was over 2 weeks ago before the easing of lockdown here, I live in the Snowdonia area and had to go to mid wales to get a car, asked the reason why were travelling, had a look at my friends licence and told us to have a nice day

I've been travelling 50 miles to drop food off for my DS. Didn't go into his house though. I'm picking him up later and bringing him home for the weekend, since he's been in isolation for two weeks. I'm surrounded by people doing whatever the fuck they like, so I'm going to get my kid. If stopped on the way, I will say I'm doing a shop for him.

I’m doing a two hour drive from Wales to pick up my daughter whom I haven’t seen for months (in England). It hadn’t occurred to me that I may be stopped, but frankly it won’t stop me going. She is vulnerable with MH problems and needs to see us for one thing; for another she has to move out of her house in two weeks, so this is also phase one of us helping moving her things out.

Families need to be able to help each other sometimes.

Just take some shopping with you. They are stopping people. Its hit or miss.

OP you could always say youre on your way to Barnard Castle to check your eyesight

I'm in north Wales. The police are stopping people. But I'm sure if you take some shopping and explain what you are doing you will be fine. They are more interested in people on days out to tourist destinations. I would go in your situation

DS and his dad travelled from Wales to England and back to empty his uni room. This would have been a permitted journey but they were not stopped and questioned.

@userxx - it's completely different in Wakes, much stricter. You should only travel 5 miles.

Stopped a couple of times - once was going to an eye appointment and the next was shopping in Sainsburys as have a fussy child with special needs. No problem either time - would just take some shopping with you

As PP have said, take a food shop of essentials with you and just go. You need to go and that's all there is to it; it's not Durham! I live in Wales, haven't driven much but go out every two weeks and have never been stopped.

Ignore any doom mongers, the board is littered with them. Hardly supportive but then, they never intended to be.

As an aside... Can’t they fine you if you haven’t updated the address on your license? It’s something pretty heavy iirc, £1000??

I’d be more worried about that.