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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:
DoraGora · 29/04/2015 10:03

Far too many drivers feel that, being protected by their metal box, they can do whatever they like. The pedestrian must give way (although, doubtless they too pay for road maintenance, in some way)

If I find a driver thoughtless, and it's practical to do so, I challenge him or her, if I feel my safety has been compromised for the sake of someone else's convenience. It happens all the time. But, it's not always possible to do something about it.

EponasWildDaughter · 29/04/2015 10:33

Off thread but:

There is nothing more annoying than some twat driving right up your arse all the way along a long twisty country road when you are doing a perfectly reasonable and safe speed (40/45ish?)

They think they're going to shunt you up to the 50/60/70/god knows what stupid speed they want to do.

NEWS FLASH - Driving up my arse makes me go s.l.o.w.e.r still. Because if there is suddenly a reason for me to slow right down or stop i don't want your car buried in the back of mine.

AngryAngryAngry

It happens to me every bloody day, no one EVER admits to being a tailgater here or anywhere, but there must be loads of people who happily do this and then nod along on here with the 'i'm such a good driver stuff' stuff. You're a wanker if you do this.

Needed to get that out.

ivykaty44 · 29/04/2015 10:44

I ended up in the ditch last weekend whilst on a country road, three cars went past the first two considerately and slowed down - the last didn't slow down and I lost my balance. I was cycling, and think most drivers do care and our careful. Unfortunately it only takes one driver to hurt someone.

zfactor · 29/04/2015 10:52

OP - maybe the pedestrians thought you hadn’t seen them?

What I do when walking along a country road without a footpath (a daily occurrence), is wait for a sign from an oncoming vehicle that the driver has seen me and is taking appropriate action - so, if they slow right down, indicate or move over, then I will apply the same level of courtesy to them, and I will also slow down/stop (or move off the road if it is safe to do so - no point in doing so if I’m going to slip or stumble and end up in the road in front of your car, or otherwise injure myself).

Perhaps ‘your’ pedestrians shouldn’t have gone one behind the other so early as that possibly suggested to you that they considered it was their responsibility to move; it wasn’t, it was your responsibility to slow down sooner.

That is also why, if a car coming towards me does not give any indication that the driver has seen me, then I maintain my position as I want to give them a better chance to see me, whilst keeping my ‘escape route’ as open as possible.

Drivers slamming on the brakes and/or sharply moving round me at the last minute, and giving me filthy looks and/or rude gestures, are commonplace, as is my continued amazement at the incompetence of ‘good’ and ‘experienced’ drivers such as yourself.

muminhants · 29/04/2015 12:03

Sparkling - I know - I grew up in Devon and my mum still lives in a village near Torquay. She whizzes up and down the country lanes (too fast in my opinion) whereas I crawl along them because I totally expect someone to be coming the other way (and generally expect me to reverse back, once I got moaned at for reversing back too slowly). Even where I am in Hampshire we have a few slightly less narrow lanes and the speed people go along them is unbelievable. I really don't know how there aren't head-on collisions every day.

Sparklingbrook · 29/04/2015 12:45

Villages by the seaside with narrow country lanes and tourists/caravans. A lovely August nightmare muminhants. Sad

Owllady · 29/04/2015 12:49

We went to wembury on holiday last year and I found driving round Devon a challenge :)

Sparklingbrook · 29/04/2015 13:29

A relative lives out in the sticks in Buckinghamshire, the lanes are so narrow. they pass each other by folding their wing mirrors in. Shock

Theoretician · 29/04/2015 14:02

Why should someone stand in a ditch to let you swoosh past in your car

I'm with the OP. To me it's common sense that you don't force two tons of metal to come to a halt just because it's your right not to have to step onto the verge (not into a ditch) for a couple of seconds. The inconvenience to the driver of stopping is far bigger than the inconvenience to the pedestrian of stepping aside for a moment.

Don't know why people are having a go at the OP, she did exactly what she was supposed to, as a driver. Apparently she's evil because when she's a pedestrian she is more thoughtful than the ones she encountered.

Mrsstarlord · 29/04/2015 14:02

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.

The OP wasn't travelling at 60mph which is what a number of posters are accusing her of on here and what my comment was in relation to. The OP isn't insisting on her rights and has been back on a number of times to say that she was wrong and had been basing her assumption on the way that she would have acted as a pedestrian in that situation. I know very well about country driving and the damage that can be done to a human body at less than 35mph having a husband who has life changing injuries as a result of a low speed accident - not his fault.

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.
She stopped because there was an obstruction in the road, she anticipated (based on her own experience and behaviour - and has since come back and said that she was mistaken) that the pedestrians would move, they didn't, she stopped.

OP: AIBU
MN: Yes
OP: Oh, OK. I hadn't realised, thats changed my view then
MN: YABU, YABU, YABU, YABU, YABU. YABU (with a few insults, misinterpretations and creative license thrown in for good measure)

ThatBloodyWoman · 29/04/2015 14:14

Theoretician do you live in the countryside and have to walk the lanes daily,going about your life?

I say this because some country lanes can be very busy at 'rush' hour/school pick up,and stepping off onto the verge repeatedly doesn't just take a couple of seconds.
But it doesn't take long for the driver,who will get to the end of the lane much quicker than the pedestrian,in any case,and who,imo,should avoid the lanes if they never wish to come across 'obstacles' in the road.
Ime of walking lanes daily for 20 years,most drivers are considerate,some are unintentionally inconsiderate,and a few downright resent anything getting in the way of them travelling at the speed they wish to go at.

KittyLovesPaintingOhYes · 29/04/2015 14:46

I live rurally - single track mostly, you meet another car someone has to back up to find a passing place, and I've had a fair few Mexican standoffs while all concerned decided who needed to reverse...
Last week I met a dogwalker and being considerate I scootched over to the edge, up the verge a bit... which, being unexpectedly boggy gave way beneath both nearside wheels and left my bloody Landrover grounded and completely stuck! I had to be towed out by a laughing neighbour while the dogwalker (another neighbour) gave a not very helpful commentary and I wished I'd just run over his feet

No good deed goes unpunished Grin

KittyLovesPaintingOhYes · 29/04/2015 14:48

But yes, it was correct to move over for him even if I did regret it.

Pipbin · 29/04/2015 14:49

To me it's common sense that you don't force two tons of metal to come to a halt just because it's your right not to have to step onto the verge (not into a ditch)
How do you know it wasn't a ditch. Verges aren't all lovely flower meadows you know. Many of them are ditches, covered in litter thrown from cars etc.

she did exactly what she was supposed to, as a driver
As stated a number of times in this thread she didn't do what she should do as a driver.

Not all verges are flat. Where I grew up some of them were several feet high. Should the pedestrian scramble up them?

As it is when I am walking on a country road I do stand on the verge when cars come passed but not out of consideration to the driver but for my own safety as so many drivers seem to drive far to fast down country roads.

Andrewofgg · 29/04/2015 16:15

To me it's commons sense that if you are driving two tons of metal you do it at a speed such that if you meet humanity coming the other way you can stop the metal before it gets to the flesh and blood. However bloody urgent your journey.

zfactor · 29/04/2015 16:57

Andrew - Absolutely, but therein lies the problem - basic common sense appears to be lacking in many drivers, so there’ll still be people who disagree (and will continue to drive without consideration for other road users).

(It’s common sense, you see, that, if 2 tons of metal are heading your way, you throw yourself into the nettles and brambles - obviously).

SoldierBear · 29/04/2015 17:27

It is sadly not common sense to assume that drivers read and retain The Highway Code and realise it is NOT about inconvenience when driving but about the safety of other lawful users of roads, which includes pedestrians, riders and cyclists.

ThatBloodyWoman · 29/04/2015 17:36

When people drive in town it strikes me that people are stopping and starting their 2 tons of metal all the time.
I can't see it can be that much more difficult in the countryside.

The nuisance is that as a pedestrian there is little to be done about poor driving -I've reported to the police before but it seems little can be done with no witnesses.
Us country pedestrians just have to rely on the vast majority of people being considerate,but equally need to stay very aware and visible at all times - particularly after dark,not least because of joyriders,and drunks driving the country route home.

Yarp · 29/04/2015 17:39

I'd say that they were there ahead of you, so they have priority. Also, since you are more likely to do them harm, and they are on your side of the road then you have to wait.

I usually do what I can to let cars past, but since it was a narrow road anyway and two cars would have to go slow to pass each other, no harm in waiting a bit longer. That would make it extra safe for everyone

McColonel · 29/04/2015 23:38

This thread is ridiculous. Even a child knows to get out of the road when they hear a car coming, yet most posters on here think they should stay in the road because it's their right according to the highway code, and the traffic should drive at a walking pace behind them.

Try walking down the middle of the A56 and see how far your rights get you then.

Andrewofgg · 29/04/2015 23:43

If the road is too narrow for a car to pass a pedestrian and is in a cutting - and I know some stretches like that, yes the car must go at walking pace until the road widens or there is enough verge for the pedestrian to get onto. The sun will still rise the next morning.

McColonel · 29/04/2015 23:52

It's pretty stupid to walk down a road where it's impossible to get out of the way of traffic.

The highway code won't do you much good when you've been run over will it?

laughingcow13 · 29/04/2015 23:55

Why did you not adjust your speed so that you did not cross the other car right where the pedestrians were?

SoldierBear · 30/04/2015 05:39

McColonel - what do you expect people who live in the countryside to do if they don't drive?
It is not stupid to walk down a road with no pavements, for many it is a fact of life.
What is stupid is car drivers not behaving appropriately by driving to the road conditions.

BaronessEllaSaturday · 30/04/2015 06:01

Try walking down the middle of the A56 and see how far your rights get you then.

Would that be the section of the A56 that no only doesn't have a pavement it doesn't even have a verge for a pedestrian to get out of the way on, If I have to walk down that stretch then yes I would walk in the road