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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:

Drainedandconfused · 17/02/2018 11:47

I had a horribly scary experience last summer in Sainsbury’s car park, if my car hadn’t had reversing beepers I dread to think what would have happened. I was parked in a disabled bay next to the parent/child parking bays, I checked all round for cars and people so started to reverse, my bleeper went so I immediately braked, there didn’t seem to be anything behind me so I put the car into park and jumped out, there was a toddler behind my car!!! The mother was 3 cars along putting her shopping in the boot of her car, why oh why didn’t she strap the child into her seat before unloading her shopping, I called out to the mother to get her child, she came running, picked her up and walked off, no thank you, no sorry. I got back into my car and had to sit for 10 minutes to pull myself together, I felt sick and was shaking, if I hadn’t had reversing beepers I would have hit the child. If you are the driver and reversing it’s your responsibility to not hit anything! A busy parent with 3 kids and a loaded trolley will not always be looking out for reversing cars.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/02/2018 12:58

Bloody hell, Drained, that's terrible! Why on earth didn't the ridiculous mother have her toddler under control? And to not even say sorry or thank you to you! Dear god.

A time to be grateful for the modern technology, definitely! (My car is too old for them - that would have been a bad outcome :( )

BlackeyedSusan · 17/02/2018 13:09

it is the drivers responsibility to look around and ensure people are not there.

however a pedestrian also has responsibility for themselves. walking behind a car that is reversing is silly as cars have blind spots, drivers can make mistakes.

I am always talking to my children about bliond spots on cars, especially on one pedestrian crossing near a corner. I have wathced the cars coming towards me as I walk and I can manage to approach the crossing entirely hidden behind the front pillar between the winscreen and window of the car as it turns the corner. well a skinnier shorter child could

I also teach them that cars do not always want to stop .

BlackeyedSusan · 17/02/2018 13:11

nor buse,s as I remember a case where the bus driver braked so sharply at the zebra crossing that at least three pensioners and a dog were sprawled across the inside of the windscreen...

Drainedandconfused · 17/02/2018 13:17

ThumbWitchesAbroad.... it really shook me up and as silly as it sounds I don’t shop in Sainsbury’s anymore, the experience affected me that badly. I could have killed a child, it certainly makes you a more cautious and observant driver. The mother was clearly rushing and probably didn’t think, she missed it all.

KurriKurri · 17/02/2018 13:24

If youa re doing your reversing obervations properly, people do not appear out of nowhere. Especially pedestrians (unless they are Usain Bolt).
Hazard perception is part of the theory test and that includes being aware of potential hazards. People are hazards because they may be ignorant (of such things as reversing lights) unobservant, and behave unpredictably. You are the one in the big metal thing, they are made of softer stuff - so it's up to you to do you robservation properly.

And glaring is a fairly standard reaction to someone reversing at you, people do it because they are momentarily alarmed and unsure whether you will stop or not.

And carparks are full of pedestrians - going to and from their cars or walking to the beauty spot.Presumably in a beauty spot car park there are no designated pedestrian areas ?

steff13 · 17/02/2018 13:34

In a parking lot you can start backing out of the space with no one behind you, and someone can walk into your path while you're actively moving. It happens all the time. Yes, drivers need to be aware of their surroundings, but I don't think it's too much to expect a pedestrian not to wake into the path of a moving vehicle. I mean that's just common sense, right?

Rubbish! There are there to illuminate the rear of the vehicle to aid the driver.

The white lights only come on when your car is in reverse. They're to notify those around you that your car is in reverse. They don't illuminate anything.

steff13 · 17/02/2018 13:37

If youa re doing your reversing obervations properly, people do not appear out of nowhere

If they're a few spaces away when you begin reversing, you may not be able to see them because of other cars. Or, they were in a car themselves when you begin reversing, and they get out and start walking across the parking lot. They don't come out of nowhere, but they certainly can come from somewhere where you didn't have the ability to see them at first.

grannytomine · 17/02/2018 13:40

No YANBU it seems commonsense to me that people aren't going to have as wide a view when reversing so pedestrians should be wary.

Grimbles · 17/02/2018 13:51

nor buse,s as I remember a case where the bus driver braked so sharply at the zebra crossing that at least three pensioners and a dog were sprawled across the inside of the windscreen...

This is exactly why I don't just step out onto a zebra crossing, if there's a vehicle close enough to be able to hit me I wait until it has stopped or gone past before stepping out. I'm not going to trust that my judgement of there being enough room for a vehicle to brake safely is correct.

happy2bhomely · 17/02/2018 13:55

I would not walk behind a car that had reverse lights on. That is just common sense. If I did it accidentally I wouldn't glare at the driver but I would expect the driver to stop without moaning at me.

But as a driver, I know that it is my responsibility to make sure it is safe to reverse before I start to reverse and the whole time I am reversing. If a pedestrian approaches I stop immediately, whether they are in my way or not. I allow them to cross. They have right of way.

In the same way that if I am reversing out of a space and another car appears, I stop and allow the car to pass me. I don't assume that because my lights are on that I can just keep going!

The fact is if you hit someone while reversing, you are at fault. It doesn't matter that you can't see well. If you can't see then you should get someone to assist you.

Grimbles · 17/02/2018 14:04

So, is there anybody here who would actually walk behind a reversing vehicle then?

I assume most of us wouldn't because we understand it's a dangerous thing to do.

LoniceraJaponica · 17/02/2018 14:24

I must admit that I'm surprised that non drivers don't know about reversing lights. Surely, they must see reversing cars all the time while walking around?

momentomori · 17/02/2018 16:14

I suspect I am the sort of person who does this. Not because I am trying to annoy someone but just because I tend to walk along in a daydream. However, when I learned to drive I was taught to only reverse when there were no pedestrians approaching. And as a driver I would always give way to approaching pedestrians. And it wouldn't occur to me to get annoyed. I think pedestrians by their nature are a little haphazard. That's just life. So I think YABU.

Qvar · 17/02/2018 16:14

YABU

You have a driving licence, nobody needs a pedestrian licence

TheBrilliantMistake · 17/02/2018 16:17

Reversing lights are an indication of your intention, not the authority to start reversing.

As annoying at it can sometimes be, particularly when people walk behind well after you've indicated your intention (or that they have simply not noticed because they're too busy thinking about other things), you have to be patient and wait.. and wait again if necessary.

Getting stressed about it (I do too sometimes) doesn't help. You've just gotta stay calm and keep smiling.

Chocachoo · 17/02/2018 16:28

YANBU. You don't have eyes in the back of your head and it's never great visibility in a car park. The fact is you didn't hit them or anything so WHY the glaring? Lucky for them you're paying enough attention when they obviously aren't! Can't stand drivers/pedestrians/cyclists who act wounded over absolutely nothing. Makes me want to run them over after all 🤣

TheBrilliantMistake · 17/02/2018 18:44

Supermarket carparks are poorly laid out. Ever noticed how right outside the entrance (where pedestrian traffic is purposely directed, invariable has a road right outside it that able bodied drivers are expected to drive along. It's only because of low speeds that more accidents don't happen. The same happens with people reversing out of spaces into a parking 'aisle' as it were. Precisely where more people are also being asked to walk - because they've not provided footpaths between the rows of cars.

ChocFudgeLover · 17/02/2018 18:51

Pedestrians always have right of way. And you should be looking behind you when you reverse. Yavvvvvvvvu.

youarenotkiddingme · 17/02/2018 18:52

I agree. Today I was halfway out of reversing from my space In Tesco. A woman was crossing at the crossing about 20m away. She then halfway across turned and started walking down the road bit towards the back of my reversing car.

Her glare, speed and direction made it obvious she expected me to stop.

Original poster

Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 19:43

in what way could i possibly be vvvvvunreasonable? i stopped my reversing

OP posts:

pringlecat · 17/02/2018 19:55

As a pedestrian who doesn't drive, I don't walk behind a reversing car unless the driver has clearly seen me, stopped and started waving that I should just pass.

I don't really understand how cars work, but I do understand I don't want to be run over by one.

ChocFudgeLover · 17/02/2018 19:56

Well if you don't think you were unreasonable why are you posting on aibu it's kinda the point, yabu/yanbu and variations of both

Original poster

Slartybartfast · 17/02/2018 20:00

true choc.
very true.

OP posts:

PiffIeandWiffle · 17/02/2018 20:03

it's kinda the point

Kind
Of

I know you think you're being cool but some people may think it makes you come across as a twat...

HTH

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