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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

SusanBunch · 17/02/2018 09:27

If reversing lights are intended to warn other drivers, then they would be mandatory on all vehicles, but they are not and are not part of the MOT test.

Of course they are there to warn other drivers, even if it is not compulsory to have them. That doesn't mean that the other drivers have no responsibility to drive safely and be aware of hazards. They are certainly not there to light the way for the driver because there are actual lights for that and they come on even when the lights are not on.

I know full well that it would never be a defence to hit a reversing vehicle simply because it didn't have the reverse lights on and you didn't realise it was reversing. However, where there are lights, they are there for others to see and 99.9% of the adult population know what they are for.

WobblyBanana · 17/02/2018 09:28

Not sure about your situation, but I had one once where I had to take my kids across a small side road leading off a very busy one. There was a car parked pretty much on the corner of the side we were crossing too, so we had to cross to where we'd be behind it.

The kids were slightly ahead of me so got to behind the car before I did and though we hadn't noticed, someone was in the car and suddenly just started reversing, very nearly driving over my kids. I banged the back of her car and only then she stopped, and I was so furious at the stupid woman I went to say something but she kept the window rolled up - not an apology, nothing.

My kids were about 7 and 9, not so small that she couldn't have seen out of the back window, and in any case if she'd looked to the side she'd have seen us cross. I was left shaking and angry, and the lack of apology or even acknowledgement just made it worse!

It sounds like you were much more together, but I have to implore you if you're in what can be a very dangerous machine you be careful with it - the pedestrians are much more vulnerable. Not sure why you're being stared at though, maybe they'd been waiting a long time?

WeAllHaveWings · 17/02/2018 09:29

The onus is on you 100% to ensure you are completely aware of everything in your direction of travel. When reversing out of a space in a carpark you need to do so slowly and make sure there are no adults, children or other cars around.

We have no idea why she glared at you as we weren't there. It does sound as if you were getting a bit impatient as you had already waiting for other cars and people. Are you sure you didn't start reversing out when she was behind you or nearly behind you as you were fed up waiting as it was busy, maybe you never moved but reeved your engine just a little? If you did she'd have every right to be peeved if you were moving or appeared to be moving a big car towards her while she was there.

If it makes you anxious and unable to cope with the responsibility of making sure the roads is clear before starting to reverse, or you don't have the patience to wait maybe park somewhere in the carpark that is less busy with pedestrians (near the back is usually quiet).

crunchymint · 17/02/2018 09:30

I am a driver and did not know reversing lights existed.My cars have never had them.

TellsEveryoneRealFacts · 17/02/2018 09:32

Funnily enough, reversing into a parking space is also a dangerous manoeuvre risking tossing pedestrians aside and scraping other cars

No it isn't. And if you scrape other cars and can't see pedestrians when reversing into a parking space, then perhaps you need some new glasses or to retake your test.

When you drive past a vehicle, and reverse in - you can see all around you, and all the vehicles around you. That is what the mirrors and clear round vision is for.

Sophisticatedsarcasm · 17/02/2018 09:33

I was a pedestrian when this happened to me the other day. Women was only looking one way had no lights on until she started moving. She must have seen us as we parked our car a few spaces along and was getting out as she was getting in. No pathway to walk on as it’s a strange retail park. Even the b&q worker having his break said she was in the wrong.

WeAllHaveWings · 17/02/2018 09:35

I am a driver and did not know reversing lights existed. My cars have never had them.

I thought it was a legal requirement to have reversing lights (although I admit I have no basis for this other than common sense)??? What cars did you have that didn't have reversing lights?

roundaboutthetown · 17/02/2018 09:36

crunchymint - unless your cars are all pre-1970s, I don't believe you.

SusanBunch · 17/02/2018 09:38

I am a driver and did not know reversing lights existed.My cars have never had them.

Yeah, cool story bro.

SoupDragon · 17/02/2018 09:38

To those quoting the Highway Code

Rule 15
Reversing vehicles. Never cross behind a vehicle which is reversing, showing white reversing lights or sounding a warning.

roundaboutthetown · 17/02/2018 09:38

TellsEveryone - clearly you are very naive and over trusting of people's driving capabilities. Years of being a pedestrian has taught me not to be such an idiot.

SuburbanRhonda · 17/02/2018 09:39

it was quite difficult to find an available space so i just went in the first one i found before it was taken from me

Taken from you? You do know parking spaces belong to all the visitors in the car park, not just you?

SoupDragon · 17/02/2018 09:39

I am a driver and did not know reversing lights existed.

Then you aren’t safe to be driving.

aRespectableBureaudeChange · 17/02/2018 09:40

I don't see driving as changing gears and moving to a destination. I see driving as avoiding and regularly saving the lives of some one stepping out in front of me . Driving means you are responsible for other people's safety all around you - yes they're very irritating wandering around asking to get themselves run over - bit that's life.

So yes YUBU _people aren't paying attention, misunderstanding one another's movement intentions etc. Avoiding hitting someone is always a drivers responsibility because one day there could be a real accident where you are unable to avoid at the last minute - no need to get het up about the twenty times a day you avoid a pedestrian not paying attention.

ShowMePotatoSalad · 17/02/2018 09:42

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?

juneybean not only are you incredibly rude but the PPs comment is obviously relevant to the perspective of the pedestrians!

gamerwidow · 17/02/2018 09:42

It’s not a legal requirement to have reversing lights but bloody stupid not to.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 17/02/2018 09:43

Hear, hear roundabout. I've yelled, "It's red, you pillock!" at a driver who went through a red light on a pelican crossing when I had DD in a buggy. I'd naturally started to cross as the pelican light was green, she actually glared at me as she roared through, which was when I yelled.

ShowMePotatoSalad · 17/02/2018 09:44

The wording of your post is relevant OP. You said "then again start to reverse, only for people to be walking directly behind the car!" Did you start reversing as they had already begun crossing behind, or did you start reversing and then they started crossing behind?

Elendon · 17/02/2018 09:44

Someone walked into the space I was reversing into the other day. Thankfully I stopped in the nick of time. I always wait for a car to reverse.

Mind you a woman drove into me whilst I was stationary waiting for someone else to reverse. She said first she didn't see me - I'm in a big car - and secondly tried to accuse me of blocking her exit - was I supposed to teleport the car?

TrashPanda · 17/02/2018 09:44

Where are you and what cars do you have to never have had a reversing light?

crunchymint · 17/02/2018 09:46

soupdragon Don't be stupid. You just look. You can see if a car is reversing. And actually I do know what you mean now I think by reversing lights.
But you see a car with someone in the drivers seat and you watch them. You don't know if they are suddenly going to start reversing or not, so you look at what they are doing.
But pedestrians have right of way.And I have seen cars in car parks act as if they have right of way. They don't.

roundaboutthetown · 17/02/2018 09:46

I'd be quite interested to know who hasn't witnessed one car scraping another in a car park, and who hasn't witnessed pedestrians strolling inches behind a vehicle which they could easily have seen was reversing before they did so. Pedestrians and drivers both do dangerous things. A sensible person doesn't expect either to have any commonsense - then they are better prepared for their unpredictability.

crunchymint · 17/02/2018 09:47

And I was taught if someone is approaching the car as a pedestrian, you do not reverse. You do not expect them to give way. OP I think you were in the wrong here.

MummySparkle · 17/02/2018 09:48

I've had the complete opposite in a supermarket car park. I was walking with DD(3) back to our car, DH and DS were already there. The footpath to the car park ended in the corner and then we needed to cross diagonally to our car. It's one way and there were no cars coming. Car to our left had engine running, but no driver in the car when we stepped out into the road. About 2 seconds later that car reversed a foot towards us, slammed on its brakes then the driver got out and started screaming 'are you fucking blind?!' At me and DD. I was so shocked all I could manage was 'excuse me?' Thankfully 2 or 3 onlookers took it upon themselves to reply on my behalf. Their choice of words were a lot more colourful than mine!

The driver then followed me back to my car, but ran away sharpish when DH asked him if he had a problem

Original poster

Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 09:49

the bad tempered glarey woman was clearly feeling entitled imo.

OP posts:

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