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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think pedestrians on a narrow country road should expect to give way to cars?

143 replies

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 28/04/2015 21:52

I was a bit gobsmacked by this today. They were walking 2 abreast towards me; as I approached they went one behind the other, but there was another car coming the other way - as is usual we were clearly all going to arrive at the same point at the same time (is it Murphy's law?) but equally clearly they had no intention of stepping on to the verge while the cars passed. I ended up at a dead stop just ahead of them as the other car went by.

They were wrong, yes? Pedestrians walking on the road - a national limit road Shock - should give way to cars? We gave each other filthy looks but I refrained from ramming them.

OP posts:
TiggeryBear · 29/04/2015 00:44

Having been out earlier today for my run/walk, primarily along country lanes (I would have to drive a fair distance in order to run along pavements or in another suitable environment - joys of living in the countryside!) There are simply times when as a pedestrian one cannot simply "Chuck oneself in the hedge" or get right up on the verge as it simply doesn't exist - for instance a walled section of road, a narrow bridge or because the edge of the road isn't far from a significant drop into a ditch filled with stagnant water. Fortunately this particular road was quite quiet this evening but I do know on other occasions, I have been merrily jogging/walking along (without headphones I might add, so that I may hear approaching traffic traveling down carriageways only wide enough for single file traffic with limited passing places) most drivers are patient enough to stick behind me until we have reached a wider section of road at which point we have passed ways with little a little wave of thanks.
But there are exceptions - one particularly impatient driver decided that 5seconds was too long to wait & roared past us mounting the narrow verge on the other side of the road & in doing so covered us in a load of wet mud.
The point I am trying to make (though probably failing to do so by rambling) is that we are all sharing these roads & if, for example, as a pedestrian we are stood by a gateway & we see a car heading towards through a particularly narrow section of road then surely it is a matter of common sense to allow the car to pass and vice versa?

TheChandler · 29/04/2015 05:22

Even if the op is strangely unaware of the Highway Code, surely her own description of the road as a "narrow country road" tells her all she needs to know?

Narrow country road (not motorway) - likely to be full of road users you get in the countryside such as tractors, horse riders, pedestrians walking on the road due to lack of pavements and so on.

Do you seriously have so little in the way of manners and courtesy that you expect people to stop walking and jump up onto verges, just so that your progress isn't briefly slowed?

Maybe you should stick to motorway driving.

Sparklingbrook · 29/04/2015 06:41

Well I do a lot of walking down country lanes and I am always stopping or stepping onto the verge in situations the OP describes. Gets the cars out of the way more quickly. Usually they are driving so fast I am not sure they even notice.

Fatmanbuttsam · 29/04/2015 06:43

Oh ffs Sagethyme....why is the response so often to any issue 'lobby your council for cctv'.....where is the money to come from to pay for it and would it only be that tiny stretch of road that you camera...or do you think we should blanket the entire country with cctv just in case something might happen.....and who shall we get to sit in a control room watching the screens for any inappropriate behaviour.....oh but there might be children using the countryside at any one time so we should put cameras in the control room just in case someone takes the job so they can watch children, or women, or sheep or whatever their 'thing' is....sorry, I've stormed into the thread to sound off about the cctv because that is just such a stupid idea that if you had bothered to do some research rather than spout nonsense you would have found out that it's not hugely effective

TheChandler · 29/04/2015 06:55

but fatman, don't you ever think that it would be nice if all the traffic wardens could be deployed to do something that was slightly more socially useful. I mean if councils can organise such blanket coverage of traffic wardens, it surely must be possible for them to organise other stuff, even if it has to be revenue-generating, to pay for it.

londonrach · 29/04/2015 06:59

You the car driver has a responsibily to look out for sheep, deer, people, farm vehicles. I lived in the country and drove expecting to see a combinharvester around every corner.. You cant drive national speed limit around the twisty country lanes!

HoneyDragon · 29/04/2015 07:06

So how long did this incidence that hardly ever happens take? 30 seconds top for the car with right of way to go past, then enough space to overtake?

If it had been a car with hazards on having to do 20m an hour to drive to the nearest safe place to stop would you have started a thread expecting the driver to have buried the car unsafely on the verge?

SoupDragon · 29/04/2015 07:16

If there was space for two cars to pass without one utilising a passing place, it wasn't a narrow country road.

Having recently walked along a road such as the OP describes (national speed limit, no pavement, room for two cars to pass each other) I too would have given any driver who came to a dead stop just ahead of me A filthy look because they were driving like a selfish arse. I had my dog with me and moved over as far as I could but, although there appeared to be a small verge, it was not suitable to walk on and, in most places, it was unsuitable to stand on unless you wished to be in the hedgerow.

The OP should have slowed down much earlier given it was so obvious you were all going to arrive at the same place at the same time. It's really not hard and makes no appreciable difference to the journey time.

I think this says it all about the OP's attitude:

Pedestrians walking on the road - a national limit road Shock

SoupDragon · 29/04/2015 07:19

Oh ffs Sagethyme....why is the response so often to any issue 'lobby your council for cctv'.

CCTV? She said speed cameras.

muminhants · 29/04/2015 07:42

I've not read the thread, but if you are on a road without a pavement, then of course, as a car driver, you give way to the pedestrian. Where else are they meant to go?

And would you REALLY do 60mph on a country lane?

Mrsstarlord · 29/04/2015 07:44

I think you're getting a hard time OP. You weren't driving too fast, you stopped to allow everyone else to get past. You were basing your question on what you would do based on your manners (I.e. Move out of the way). Clearly the highway code says differently but it's not as if you caused an accident by driving dangerously.

Sparklingbrook · 29/04/2015 07:45

People around here do at least that all the time muminhants Sad it's as if they don't expect to meet anything coming the other way.

One lane is a rat run/short cut between two main roads, they use it to save queuing at an roundabout. You walk along it at rush hour at your peril.

UptheChimney · 29/04/2015 07:57

You weren't driving too fast
35mph could well be too fast on a narrow country lane. It's way too fast for a pedestrian if selfish drivers such as the OP insist on their "rights". The damage that can be done to a human body at 35 mph is considerable.

SoupDragon · 29/04/2015 08:03

you stopped to allow everyone else to get past

Well, she "ended up at a dead stop just ahead of them as the other car went by." which implies something rather different to stopping in good time to allow everyone to pass. She stopped, eventually, simply because she was forced to, not because she anticipated her side of the road being obstructed.

Justusemyname · 29/04/2015 08:08

Pedestrians should always ahv priority or right of way given they can't kill a car.....

CinnabarRed · 29/04/2015 08:08

I think people are unaware of rural dangers.

I totally agree (quite separate from this thread). I grew up in a very rural location and live rurally now, so I do know how to drive on country roads - but through observation rather than by being taught.

DH grew up in a city, and I have watched his driving style change over the time we have lived where we do.

IMO, it should be better covered in driving lessons, if not the actual test.

Owllady · 29/04/2015 08:10

Our lane is a rat run too, it links up to a major A road. The driving I have seen here in 5 years has been the worst I have ever seen anywhere, ever. I do think it's a matter of time before human lives are lost too.

Speed cameras or humps will not be installed on lanes as we're in a minority and its too expensive. It doesn't mean reckless drivers aren't brought to task for their behaviour and prosecuted if necessary. The police were involved when my dog got run over (it could have been me in all honesty) and the officers who came out said they have nearly been hit themselves if responding to a broken down car on the lane.

I agree with the poster who said if as a car user you want to use these lanes as a rally track, walk down them with your family first.

Of course it goes without saying that if as a pedestrian there is a safe place to stand you will use it.

Instead of getting defensive and self righteous it might be more gracious to accept that people's safety is paramount to getting somewhere quicker. It would absolutely devastate you/anyone if you killed someone just because you were trying to get to work/school/etc a bit quicker. I'd go as far as to say it would affect your life as much as the person you killed, family. Just think about things a bit more. We live and learn.

CinnabarRed · 29/04/2015 08:10

TBF, I know some country roads where it is safe to do NSL for short, open stretches. But yes, most do need slower speeds. I always say to the DC: think about what would happen if there were a tractor round that bend - could we stop in time?

Sparklingbrook · 29/04/2015 08:16

Tailgating along the country lanes is very popular around here. Sad

HoneyDragon · 29/04/2015 08:28

Op

You have taken people's responses as an insult as your driving skills.

And you still seem to think you are better mannered than the pedestrians.

You haven't actually admitted that UWBU to have expected the pedestrisns to give way. Do you still maintain they should?

backinthebox · 29/04/2015 08:32

Very pleased to see so many sympathetic drivers here. It's not much fun being driven past at 50mph on a country lane when walking the kids to school, just because people are oblivious to the Highway Code!

Where I live the council has put signs up on all of the single width country lanes to remind car drivers that pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders should all be afforded right of way until there is space to pass them safely. Sad that there are enough people driving inconsiderately that they need to put signs up about it, really.

Andrewofgg · 29/04/2015 08:34

YABU and by now you should know it. People matter more than the hurry you were in.

Shakirasma · 29/04/2015 08:49

Pedestrians always have right of way, in all circumstances.
You can be gracious about it, or you can be huffy about it but it is what it is.
Better to be gracious imo, and save yourself the angst Smile

Dunkling · 29/04/2015 09:30

This describes the start of my dog walk every day.

The country road is just about wide enough o fit 2 cars passing each other, add me into the equation and somethings gotta give. It is not me. I always expect the car coming towards me to stop, while I do the same so as not to be up their front bumper when they can move off. And we wait for the other car to pass.

No way am I jumping in some muddy thorny hedged dog poo splattered verge just to save you 10 seconds. I always smile and mouth thank you with a raise of the hand.

Andrewofgg · 29/04/2015 09:50

Dunkling First time I evr agreed with a dog-walker Grin