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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:
PeriodMath · 24/08/2013 15:22

This has to be a wind-up. Otherwise it is frightening.

OP, if you are for real, please give up the supermarket for the time being. Do online shopping or get someone else to pick up essentials for you. You should not be driving if you are this unwell. Next time, pull off the road until you are feeling better.

SamanthaMulder · 24/08/2013 15:23

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

ShellyBoobs' point is valid. My father was a fireman, and the first time he took his HGV driving test was on local roads. He was failed because he wasn't as cautious as he was supposed to be. For his 2nd test, the recommendation was that it was taken in a town 10-15 miles away so he wasn't familiar with the roads - he drove more cautiously and passed the test.

Madratlady · 24/08/2013 15:27

Being pregnant doesn't qualify anyone for special treatment. YABVU to think that you can run 3 red lights just because you feel sick. The normal rules still apply and if you were caught then this wouldn't be accepted as a valid excuse to break the law.

(I am pregnant. I don't expect to be treated any differently because of it, nor do I think I have the right to be)

Footface · 24/08/2013 15:29

You make me feel sick and teary at the thought that other road users have such disregard for others.!!

ilovesooty · 24/08/2013 15:33

I wonder what she needed to get from Asda that was worth putting people's lives at risk for.

SilverApples · 24/08/2013 15:48

OP, would you have done the same thing with a bad hangover and nausea?

PresidentServalan · 24/08/2013 15:56

And if you are that ill, then you wouldn't have been concentrating on the road. You put the lives of you, your unborn baby and members of the public at risk. Just because you are pregnant, that doesn't give you a free pass to drive like an idiot.

FondantNancy · 24/08/2013 15:59

If this is real you really are stupid. How the hell can you drive while you're choking and retching? I hope I live nowhere near you. A good friend of mine was paralysed from the waist down in an accident where the other driver ran a red light. This driver also said that the way was clear.

Floatsyourboat · 24/08/2013 16:03

Wind down the car window and puke! I have done that loads with morning sickness. You will have to hose the car down after but that's better than a head on collision!

HeySoulSister · 24/08/2013 18:39

an emergency vehicle could emerge before you know it...and if the light is green they would shoot through....then oh dear,op is there....blocking the way or causing head on collision

Original poster
drivingisanightmare · 24/08/2013 18:59

I last had a hangover when I was about 19 - before I had a car!

The sickness only took hold very suddenly on my way back. Ilovesooty - the things so urgently needed were just food and quite normal things, really. I had a journey on the way back which was full of stops/starts due to other drivers and I started feeling really sick and knew I wasn't going to make it.

I was feeling very ill but I could see there was nothing coming (not that that excuses ignoring the signals, of course, but I panicked a touch.) It is a very clear, straight road and it is a residential area and was quiet at that particular time on a Saturday. The first light turned red as I was going through and rather than slam on the brakes, I went through and subsequently went through the rest as they were changing. If I'd slammed on I definitely would have vomited which I think would have been more unsafe as I would have been sick before I could grind to a complete halt, if you follow me.

I'm certainly not an unsafe driver as my history of accidents (none) proves! I probably should have stayed home but the sudden onset took me by surprise.

OP posts:
ShellyBoobs · 24/08/2013 19:47

Ok, so you're still saying you weren't unreasonable then, OP?

Just so we know...

Cravey · 24/08/2013 19:48

I hope to goodness you don't live by me. Stay off the roads, read a Highway Code. And obey the law.

Turniptwirl · 24/08/2013 19:51

Yabu, if you can't drive safely because of morning sickness then you shouldn't drive.

Turniptwirl · 24/08/2013 19:52

Residential area... So where the speed limit is for a reason and there could have been kids playing out or crossing the road?

Original poster
drivingisanightmare · 24/08/2013 19:53

You missed the sentence where I said "not that that excuses it, of course" then, Shelley?

Mumsnetters worrying for their safety, fear not. I don't think I've ever done that before and won't again, and really, I wouldn't have done it had it not been perfectly safe to do so. However, the law is the law and I obviously should not have done so.

OP posts:
Original poster
drivingisanightmare · 24/08/2013 19:57

OMG yes, I just mowed them all down Hmm

No, kids don't play on the road. Even when the roadworks aren't there, which believe me makes it impossible for any playing to take place, it's a road where cars go fast (40 mph). There are houses on one side then the other side is a canal. It is an old road leading to the town centre and normally is quite busy but it is only used by residents at the moment due to roadworks can't think why

OP posts:
Cravey · 24/08/2013 19:59

Come on op. you know you're wrong. Doesn't matter that nothing happened. It was dangerous and illegal. Stop trying to justify yourself and try t make sure you carry a plastic bag next time in case of sickness.

Dackyduddles · 24/08/2013 20:01

If you ask the question don't be surprised at the answer you get.

This one was rather amazing it appears to many of us

WMittens · 24/08/2013 20:06

You can't pull over as roadworks are blocking the pavement if you see what I mean. I suppose I should have been sick while waiting for light to change but I was panicking!

So are you saying, on that 15 minute drive to Asda, every single metre of it is subject to roadworks?

Stop somewhere there isn't roadworks to puke. Seriously, as long as you're not entirely blocking the road, almost anyone would let you off stopping anywhere, even on double yellows.

WMittens · 24/08/2013 20:15

I'm certainly not an unsafe driver as my history of accidents (none) proves!

That proves nothing of the sort.

You've committed three TS10 offences - if convicted you would have 9 points on your licence. That doesn't sound safe to me.

seensomuch · 24/08/2013 20:18

some people like to think they are above the law , but they would be the first to complain if someone in their family was knocked down by someone driving through red traffic lights.

pianodoodle · 24/08/2013 20:37

It was not perfectly safe as the second sets of lights changed to red as you went through them you would have had no time to do a risk assessment and if they felt the road was safe enough for people to do their own risk assessments there would be no need for the lights in the first place.

pianodoodle · 24/08/2013 20:38

Sorry no full stops in that last sentence!

It is reckless driving and you were being unreasonable.

SilverApples · 24/08/2013 20:41

That's one of the reasons that bikers and cyclists get wiped off the roads, people just don't see them. And if the driver is performing an illegal action, such as running a series of red lights, the riders might not have much of a chance.
I'm pleased that most people think YWBU, despite your moral wrigglings and justifications.