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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have gone through 3 sets of red lights?

175 replies

drivingisanightmare · 24/08/2013 11:01

Roadworks have been on my street since last November. There are 3 sets of temporary traffic lights meaning if you time it badly you add 15 minutes to your journey.

morning sickness is dreadful just now. I needed to go to Asda fifteen minutes away.

First I was stuck behind someone doing 25 mph in a 40 zone. Then on the way back someone was stopping all the time for no reason. Then came to a road with speed bumps and someone was stopping completely dead before tackling each speed bump. Then all the lights were on red. Nothing was coming so I went through them all. Then got home and vomited.

BU?

OP posts:
ShellyBoobs · 24/08/2013 12:50

YABU. What you did was very dangerous but you know that already.

I'm not going to pile in trying to make you feel worse than you probably do, but please don't do it again, OP, you could have had a really bad accident involving other innocent people.

...you can see very very clearly and it is my own road. I know it well

That's not a good thing, either.

You're more likely to crash on local roads that you know well, close to your home, than you are on unfamilar roads.

ilovesooty · 24/08/2013 13:12

You aren't fit to drive. Fgs stay off the roads.

I doubt your excuse will hold up with the authorities either.

When I opened the thread I thought it wasababout an emergency dash to hospital with someone's life in the balance.

LadyintheRadiator · 24/08/2013 13:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PresidentServalan · 24/08/2013 13:20

Driving like that makes you a danger to other people - YABvvvvU and I h

PresidentServalan · 24/08/2013 13:20

Hope you were caught on camera

holidaysarenice · 24/08/2013 13:27

You stop the car, you open the door, you boke, you close the door, you drive on.

If you're really fussy you wipe your mouth.

Nowhere in those instructions does it say drive through red light.

lljkk · 24/08/2013 13:28

oh ffs, next time you get pregnant just sit in bed all pregnancy with a bucket. Rather than risk venturing out & the possible need for some moments of small selfishness.

yanbu, no harm done. Didn't mean anything.

BiscuitDunker · 24/08/2013 13:32

As someone who was involved in a crash this wednesday due to some dozy bitch woman speeding along a straight road just because she didn't want to sit in traffic for a few extra seconds/minutes I can quite honestly say that you have been incredibly stupid and you drove very dangerously,regardless of whether "there was nothing coming" or not!! God knows the woman that smashed into my car this week could of used that excuse as we were indicating and pulling out into the next lane but because she was speeding she didn't have enough time to see us let alone brake!

And fwiw I don't for one single second think suffering with morning sickness excuses your dangerous driving either.

I'm 32wks pg and the force of the impact caused my baby to stop moving for over 2hrs (as well as causing myself,dh and our dd injuries),luckily baby is fine and no damage done but it could of been much worse and there's nothing to say the same thing couldn't of happened when you went through not 1 but 3 red lights!! You should of either not gone out,not driven and got a taxi or pulled over until the sickness passed instead of risking your life and the lives of others especially as you were "choking and teary" so you wouldn't of even been able to look properly before going despite what you may think.

Do NOT in any circumstances pull a stunt like that again and don't drive if you feel like you may be sick!

(sorry if I've gone off on one but given what's happened to me this week and the massive scare I had over my unborn dc I think I can be forgiven for being just a little bit angry/hormonal/upset about this thread and the pure stupidity of the ops actions)

Panzee · 24/08/2013 13:32

Shellyboobs that's only because you're on the local road more often.

HeySoulSister · 24/08/2013 13:32

Selfishness? Would you still think that if op car rammed into one of your kids cos she was driving like that?

Panzee · 24/08/2013 13:33

This is where an electric window comes in handy. :o

AngelinaCongleton · 24/08/2013 13:35

Firstly, I would not share this with mumsnet. Secondly, presuming you could see nothing coming for miles, yanbu.

HorryIsUpduffed · 24/08/2013 13:35

If you reach those automatic temporary lights on red and there's nothing coming the other way, flash your headlights. They change very soon.

I agree that a person who is that ill is not fit to drive at that moment. No wonder your decision making was skewed.

Morning sickness tends to start with a bang, in my experience. You'll get better at it.

HarderToKidnap · 24/08/2013 13:37

HOW can someone be sure nothing is coming for miles if you are choking, retching and crying and panicking?

Yes, you can probably be sure no articulated lorries are coming. How can you properly look for bicycles, motorbikes, small pedestrians dashing across after their ball, cars turning out of driveways etc? HOW? If you think you can,you're a dangerous driver.

Birdsgottafly · 24/08/2013 13:38

"Rather than risk venturing out & the possible need for some moments of small selfishness."

You don't put other people at risk and break the law, just because you are pregnant, that isn't a small selfish act.

How difficult is it to stay at home and order on line, or do without?

I didn't have a car during my pregnancies, we didn't have P&C parking, accessible shops and buses, on line shopping etc, yet we didn't starve to death and our families didn't suffer.

I would like a study done on why we are able to cope less and get on with what our life throws at us, life is getting easier and yet people seem to be struggling more to just carry out simple basic tasks.

JenaiMorris · 24/08/2013 13:39

Gawd - OP could see the way was clear. She panicked and made a silly decision - silly because she might get points and a fine (if she's very unlucky - seems unlikely to me), NOT because she was a danger.

She didn't career over a pelican crossing or pull put blindly at a junction.

Take it easy, OP. Perhaps avoid driving for a while but don't take too much notice of the flaming you're getting here. People love sticking the boot in over stuff like this - bloody sods.

ShellyBoobs · 24/08/2013 13:40

...that's only because you're on the local road more often.

You're wrong.

EmmaBemma · 24/08/2013 13:42

If there was obviously no car coming I don't see what the problem is. I obviously wouldn't go through a red at a temp 3-way light system at a junction, or when I can't see a clear road ahead, but sometimes they put lights on the shortest sections of long straight roads. And they break quite often, so that both lights stay on red - what are you supposed to do then? Just sit there for hours?

Panzee · 24/08/2013 13:42

How can it be wrong? You're on that road more often so statistically you're more likely to have an accident on it. It's just maths.

ShellyBoobs · 24/08/2013 13:42

...NOT because she was a danger.

You're wrong as well.

Anyone else?

HeySoulSister · 24/08/2013 13:43

Ha ha didn't see anything coming? Road was clear?

So what about traffic turning in from a side road? Or driving/reversing off a drive?

EmmaBemma · 24/08/2013 13:44

"(sorry if I've gone off on one but given what's happened to me this week and the massive scare I had over my unborn dc I think I can be forgiven for being just a little bit angry/hormonal/upset about this thread and the pure stupidity of the ops actions)"

Well, it's obviously blinded you to the fact that the OP is talking about a completely different situation. Save your anger for the woman who crashed in to you.

HeySoulSister · 24/08/2013 13:44

Op has a crystal ball too?

MrsHoarder · 24/08/2013 13:45

During first trimester I did online shopping and caught buses. Oh and threw up into the gutter a lot. I didn't drive because I wasn't fit to do so.

OP YABVVVU. Dangerous driving kills.

ShellyBoobs · 24/08/2013 13:46

...How can it be wrong?

It's wrong because you said it's the only reason people crash more often closer to home.

Have a look at AIM data.

Or Which. They investigated with the help of insurers:

Accidents near home:

Just 5% of car accidents occurred 26 to 50 miles from home, and 6% at distances of more than 50 miles away.

Of the accidents closest to home, the most common cause after hitting parked vehicles was crashing while driving out of a minor road, followed by reversing into a vehicle and by hitting a wall.

Elephant.co.uk managing director Brian Martin said: 'Our research suggests that many drivers appear to be in a comfort zone when driving close to home on familiar roads, hence why such a large proportion of accidents occur there.

'It's so important to keep a full level of concentration when driving, whether you're just popping to the shops or starting or ending a longer journey. These results emphasise this even more.'