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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have phoned the police over some stranded Ducklings on the M4 central reservation!?

116 replies

rosieposey · 27/05/2013 21:00

So I get on the M4 today at junction 15 (i live locally so was only going to junc 16) and im speeding up nicely in the outside lane, it was really busy today when i notice a mother duck and 4 teeny tiny baby ducklings against the concrete central reservation all huddled there with cars going past at 80 plus mph Shock I did not know what to do whereas my first instinct was to pull over and rescue them (Illegal and suicidal) i was so worried they would get flattened.

Anyway i phoned 999 because it was an emergency (sort of) and the call despatcher agreed with me that they were a hazard and, if god forbid they had started walking back out into the fast lane then it would have been bad for the little duck family but i was equally worried that some peoples instinct would have been to swerve or brake at high speed.

Anyway i went off at junc 16 to pick up DH and DS from softplay then drove back to the motorway and down to 15 again and they were gone :) The call despatcher said he was passing it on to highways straight away and it had been about half an hour since i had first noticed the Duck and ducklings till i drove past again so surely they were saved right? I think there would have been evidence if they hadnt made it but im all worried and a bit sad that i didnt know the outcome - i know you cant ring the police back to ask so what do you all think?

Half an hour was enough time for someone to be dispatched, stop the traffic on the motorway and scoop up mum and babies right?

Also i was going to ask any duck experts if ducks stay stationary when they are scared? Only because i thought afterwards that the motorway was so busy that there was no way she and her babies could have crossed those three lanes unless it was the dead of night and that maybe she had been there with her babies all night and morning because she was so terrified? Usually central reservations on motorways you can walk under but this was solid concrete and she just could not get any further ( nor i suspect get back to safety ) someone please tell me that she was saved and then i can get some sleep!

OP posts:
manicinsomniac · 27/05/2013 21:55

YWNBU

This Friday night I was driving at about 70 in the middle lane of the M1 and there was a line of mother duck and ducklings slowly waddling across the carriageway. Without even thinking I both braked and swerved into the fast lane. Crazily dangerous but it was totally automatic. Luckily there was nothing in the fast lane but there could so easily have been. From what I could see in my mirror the next few cars did exactly the same thing.

I don't know what the outcome of it was but surely either the ducks must have been killed by one of the next few cars or else there was an accident.

It was so so dangerous and if I'd had a way of calling the police I would have done. Though I don't think they could have done anything in this case as the ducks were on the move :(

pinkballetflats · 27/05/2013 21:57

Crop - do you think that hazards shouldn't be called in? Bricks on the motorway, tarpaulin? Stray animals? Would you call in kids dropping stuff off bridges? All of these things are hazards to vehicles running at approximately 70 MPH. Do you have any experience with the kinds if injuries suffered in people who have been in accidents at high speed at sudden deceleration? Do you know what happens to someone's insides when they go from 70 - 0 in just a few short seconds?

Original poster
rosieposey · 27/05/2013 21:57

I was quite prepared for that Cropcircles and gave my name and address ect but i made the call because i thought they were a hazard in the fast lane of a major motorway so them not getting squished was a nice by product of what i thought was a responsible thing to do.

If i had done nothing then heard an hour later of a terrible pile up because someone had applied the brakes to avoid hitting them i would have felt some personal responsibility because i saw them and did nothing.

OP posts:
LEMisdisappointed · 27/05/2013 21:58

Cropcircles, the ducks were a danger to the public as someone may have swerved to avoid them (i know i would, out of instinct) So she did absolutely the right thing.

Jan49 · 27/05/2013 22:00

I think you should really have phoned 101 rather than 999 though I take the point about the ducks potentially causing an accident. Also if you used a mobile whilst driving...

pumpkinsweetie · 27/05/2013 22:02

You did the right thing, for the birds and the public.
The birds were in danger and even greatly so were the motorist who may have crashed to avoid them.

pinkballetflats · 27/05/2013 22:02

My father was a firefighter...he once came home from an accident caused by a rabbit; boyfriend swerved automatically, car slammed into a concrete bridge - the girl in the vehicle had no face left....

Original poster
rosieposey · 27/05/2013 22:02

Jan i was between junctions and came off at the next one to pick up my DH and DS so called as soon as i got off the motorway and pulled over (literally two mins after i saw them) to make the call.

OP posts:
Original poster
rosieposey · 27/05/2013 22:03

And i considered it an emergency - kind of glad i did reading upthread about people swerving to miss animals (me included)

OP posts:
breatheslowly · 27/05/2013 22:05

We hit a fox on a motorway. We were lucky to hit it head on so it went right under the car. It did need a new radiator and cost me my insurance excess and went down as a fault claim on my insurance. We were probably lucky not to have seen it as swerving to avoid it would probably have been worse.

OP - birds in crashes result in lots of feathers, pod there weren't feathers then they were probably rescued.

Original poster
rosieposey · 27/05/2013 22:14

Yes thats what i thought breatheslowly - no feathers and no ducklings so it was probably ok.

I was gone a good half an hour before i passed where they had been so i can only think someone had got there 10 mins after i called, stopped the traffic briefly and picked them up.

OP posts:
beth27123 · 27/05/2013 22:17

I watched something incredible on the a1 about three years ago. Got stuck behind a lorry who pulled to a stop in the middle of the road, to let a family of ducks safely cross. Even better a lorry stopped the traffic on the other side to make sure she got right across. Truly heart warming.

ThatVikRinA22 · 27/05/2013 22:20

i would be ok with that call - jesus we get some calls for a hell of a lot worse and personally, if i were in traffic, i would have got them or called RSPCA.

im a bit of a softie though - i made my colleague turn around to go back and pick up a cat that had been hit (sadly it was dead but i couldnt leave it in the road)

there are very few traffic bobbies about now so i would be sceptical about whether anyone found them....but i live in hope. I would have called RSPCA too....but they would have needed police to slow traffic anyway so i dont think you did the wrong thing.

IneedAsockamnesty · 27/05/2013 22:22

Funny you should mention that op but I must have been not long behind you because I saw some ducklings being saved along the same road

It all went well and they were fine.

actually I'm fibbing but its because I'm hoping you will believe me and stop fretting about the ducklings I was nowhere near the m4

LynetteScavo · 27/05/2013 22:25

Anyone who's read Make Way For The Ducklings knows you did the right thing.

ImagineJL · 27/05/2013 22:29

I've done this when several sheep were wandering along an A road (can't recall which), but I called 101 which I think is more appropriate than 999.

DomesticCEO · 27/05/2013 22:29

Crop, I agree with all the others, but then I've been involved in a frightening high speed crash when a dog ran out in front of me so I can see the sense in clearing them!

The police told me at the time that I should have hit the dog but also admitted 99% of other road users would have done the same.

emstats · 27/05/2013 22:33

Look up the number for highways and ring and ask! They shouldn't mind, should have a public tel for non emergencies like (like police 101)

Hulababy · 27/05/2013 22:34

claraschu - we have that book. We have seen the sculptures of them all in the park too :) Bought the book after visiting there.

pinkballetflats · 27/05/2013 22:38

Are those the same ducklings as the ones on Boston Common?

pinkballetflats · 27/05/2013 22:48

I had no idea they were connected to a book! Used to love those ducklings!

MrsFrederickWentworth · 27/05/2013 22:56

You were right. We were faced with a swan on the M1 recently and it was a really hazardous time with people trying to avoid it. Would not bf good if you were inexperienced.

And I want those ducklings too...

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/05/2013 22:58

I crashed into a pigeon once in the fast lane of a motorway - I couldn't avoid it as I was overtaking a car on my left hand side. I screamed as I hit it, and when I looked behind me there was a huge cloud of feathers. It also cracked my bumper. It really shook me up.

Could understand instinctively someone swerving to avoid some ducks on the road and the potential carnage. So you were right to call the police. God knows what happened to them but at least the wasn't an accident.

TheChaoGoesMu · 27/05/2013 23:01

You did the right thing op, they could have caused a serious accident.