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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

would you walk behind a car with its reversing lights on?

212 replies

Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 08:25

well?
i was trying to reverse out of a car park, as you do, i ended up letting the car behind me reverse first, kept looking, then again start to reverse, only for people to be walking directly behind the car! of course i stopped but they walked and the woman looked back at me, while walking, for ages, glaring.!
and no i dont have eyes in the back of my head, and yes i do have reverse lights!

if you take the risk of walking behind a car with its reverse lights on, you are taking a risk imo, and you dont turn and glare angrily at the reversing driver.

OP posts:
OneEpisode · 17/02/2018 08:28

Do you have a neck? You should be looking in the direction of travel, regardless of reversing lights, indicators etc!

Chwaraeteg · 17/02/2018 08:28

I don't know what reversing lights are. I don't drive. Is that a thing?

Were you reversing across a pavement? If so, then you I think you should let pedestrians past first regardless.

BakedBeans47 · 17/02/2018 08:30

YABU

The bigger obligation is on you when you’re reversing to watch out for hazards than for people to not walk behind you. Sometimes there isn’t any choice eg in a supermarket car park when people are going back to their cars.

ExhaustedAndHormonal · 17/02/2018 08:30

I hate that. I had a man once say wtf are u doing... Um. Reversing in a car park.. For cars. The pedestrian footpath Is the next aisle.. Wind your neck in.
I sat and watched where he went and he was parked right next to the said path. So was taking a short cut, which is fair enough but dont hurl abuse at me for driving on a car park

wowfudge · 17/02/2018 08:31

Was it a supermarket car park OP? I swear people lose all commonsense and think they are invincible in supermarket car parks. Don't get me started on the people who wander down the middle of the car park lanes!

ExhaustedAndHormonal · 17/02/2018 08:31

And I was turning round to, and not relying on mirrors only

Oblomov18 · 17/02/2018 08:31

No. I disagree. With pp's. Once your reversing white lights are on, pedestrians should not walk close to you.

I'm not sure who has the right of way, per the Highway Code, but that's how I see it, as both a driver, and a pedestrian.

So, op. They were in the wrong!

Original poster
Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 08:32

i was looking, over my left shoulder, i had my reverse lights on, they walked right behind my reversing car and then turned and gave me an angry look, for ages
why am i bu? for reversing?

OP posts:
juneybean · 17/02/2018 08:34

Chwaraeteg you don't drive? So your comment isn't really relevant is it?

Yes cars have reversing lights to warn others that the car is reversing. Novel isn't it?

The OP states she is reversing out of a car parking spaces where people tend to walk on the road so no she wasn't reversing over a pavement.

TelekenesisThesis · 17/02/2018 08:35

Personally I try to move out the way but it’s not always possible in a busy car park, sometimes pedestrians can see other cars that are ready to reverse too and therefore can’t step out your way and into someone else’s path.

Pedestrians are more vulnerable in that situation so you should just suck it up and wait I’m afraid. You can’t have had to wait more than a minute.

Saracen · 17/02/2018 08:36

Pedestrians have every right to walk behind reversing cars. Drivers need to take care, and deserve a glare if they don't yield to pedestrians. Careless pedestrians are being stupid and endangering themselves, but you don't get to give them a hard time about it. Wait patiently.

DontOpenDeadInside · 17/02/2018 08:37

The thing is though, if you are walking close to the backs of cars you cannot see the light until you are practically behind it.

TellsEveryoneRealFacts · 17/02/2018 08:38

Chwaraeteg you don't drive? So your comment isn't really relevant is it?

It is a bit - as anyway could be walking across a car park, not just drivers. It is not the law that every citizen must know what reversing lights are. It is the responsibility of the driver not the pedestrian to not knock people over.

OP - top tip - reverse into spaces. Reversing out of parking spaces is when accidents happen. If it was a child, you wouldn't have seen them.

FabulouslyFab · 17/02/2018 08:38

It's so frustrating! I often wish I had the reversing beeps that vans and lorries have!

ItchySeveredFoot · 17/02/2018 08:38

People are stupid. Happens all the time in our local tesco car park. People just walking out behind a moving car with their kids and everything. You wouldn't step out in front of a car so why do it behind!? And I don't drive and have known since childhood how monumentally stupid it would be to play chicken with something so big and potentially dangerous.

ItchySeveredFoot · 17/02/2018 08:40

And the op did yield. She hasn't come on here to confess a hit and run. The pedestrian needn't have glared at her.

LaurieMarlow · 17/02/2018 08:41

YABU OP. Onus is on you. Pedestrians who've never learnt to drive may not be aware of the significance of reversing lights.

RedHelenB · 17/02/2018 08:42

Obligation on you as a driver to ensure it is safe to do your manoeuvre. YABU.

AuntLydia · 17/02/2018 08:43

I would far rather stop and let them walk past than attempt to reverse with pedestrians hovering around. I'd rather be 100% sure that it's clear behind me. What if they've stopped for some other reason, you assume they've clocked you are reversing and then they randomly step out as you start moving?! Unless I'm doing my big shop and need the boot, I always reverse into a space to avoid any worrying about pedestrians.

Original poster
Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 08:43

highway code, or something surely, whether you can drive or not, teach your children folks, beware of reversing lights.

OP posts:
PrimalLass · 17/02/2018 08:43

Drives me nuts when people walk right behind you at a junction too. There's a tricky junction in our village and it's dangerous enough without being able to roll back again if something speeds round the corner.

LateToTheParty · 17/02/2018 08:44

OP I wouldn't walk behind a car with its reversing lights on, and you don't need to be able to drive to know what they are. When I'm on foot with my kids I always point them out (usually relevant at least once a day walking to and from school).

It doesn't sound as though you were being careless.

If it is a supermarket/shop car park, then surely the convention is that people drive forward into spaces, so that the boot is accessible to unload the trolley after they've finished shopping.

Billben · 17/02/2018 08:45

No, I wouldn’t walk behind a car that has his reversing lights on. Simply, cos I’m not stupid. Whether the car has the right of way or I do, makes no difference. Once I see the lights, I stop and try to look for the driver’s reaction to try to judge whether he is letting me cross or not. It doesn’t matter if it would be the driver’s fault or not if they hit me, I would be the one getting injured not them. So why would I be stupid enough to risk that?

Chwaraeteg My young children can recognise the brake and reversing lights on a car and they don’t drive either 🙄 It’s basic road safety.

BakedBeans47 · 17/02/2018 08:46

I don't know what reversing lights are. I don't drive. Is that a thing?

🤦🏼‍♀️

dontquotem3 · 17/02/2018 08:46

YANBU!