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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 20mph isn't a magical cure all?

118 replies

QuestionableMouse · 11/03/2019 11:36

This might be a bit ranty, sorry.

On my way to work this morning I hit and killed someone's pet duck. It was in the middle of the road in a blind bend. I came around the bend and it was under the car before I could do anything about it. It's a nasty bend in that it's blind, with high hedges. It's also very rural, with not a lot of traffic.

I was doing 30mph on a road with a 60mph limit. The owner is now terribly upset with me and is saying that if I'd been doing 20mph I could have missed it and has decided to start a petition to lower the limit to 20mph. I'm also getting a lot of hate from her family over this.

I feel that even if I had been doing 20mph, I still wouldn't have been able to avoid it (the breaking distance, for example, is shorter than the bend, if that makes any sense!) I do feel really terrible about it but it was an accident.

WIBU?

OP posts:
DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 11/03/2019 13:35

It’s.
A.
Duck.

She’s quackers.

HopefullyAnonymous · 11/03/2019 13:40

Even if you’d seen it, you have no obligation whatsoever to stop/brake for a bird unless it’s safe to do so. It’s not a dog 🙄

Crockof · 11/03/2019 13:40

@greenelephantscarf it's not true at 20 the majority of the cars are less economical that at 30 thus creating more pollution

Norma27 · 11/03/2019 13:50

My stepdad got knocked down and killed in December by someone driving within the speed limit (30 mph). It was an accident and we are not giving the driver grief about it or campaigning to get the speed limit lowered.
If you were driving within the law then please don’t beat yourself up.

SileneOliveira · 11/03/2019 13:56

Are they making a l'orange or crispy duck pancakes for dinner?

OhJustElfOff · 11/03/2019 14:03

Were the whole family very attached to this duck for you to be getting hate? My family and I love our dog but if she wandered into a road and got hit by a car I would consider it our own fault, whatever the speed of the vehicle. What I find really amusing is that I have stereotyped all duck owners to be nice sweet old ladies apologies to duck owners that don't adhere to my stereotyping and now I'm imagining a poor sweet lady sobbing beside her aga whilst her fox-hunting sons campaign tirelessly on behalf of the duck and write slurs about OP on the parish notice board.

britnay · 11/03/2019 14:26

Regardless of what you hit, 30mph is too fast to go around a blind bend. It may be a national speed limit road, but you need to drive to the conditions you are presented with.

sleepalldays · 11/03/2019 14:41

Maybe it's a drip feed and the op will later reveal her a person was attached to the duck via a leadGrin hence the hate.

Honestly, what a ridiculous woman, how on earth do you keep a duck from wandering? They have bloody wings fgs. Was it a house duck?

headinhands · 11/03/2019 14:49

The driver in front of me hit a duck and we could have only been doing like 20. Duck owner sounds really weird.

AnagramBixter · 11/03/2019 14:54

Why did the duck cross the road?

Because the chicken did.

AnagramBixter · 11/03/2019 14:55

Sorry, I'll get my coat.

Elphame · 11/03/2019 15:01

Bath has been forced to admit that the introduction of 20mph limits has actually led to an increase in accidents and deaths in some areas where it was imposed, including my village and no overall improvement in the rest.

We're still stuck with it though and drive along with our eyes fixed on the speedo rather than the road.... My car will hold 30 happily in 3rd without a tendency to stray upwards. 20 though is very hard to maintain.

Omzlas · 11/03/2019 15:14

Shameless placemarking because I desperately want to know why the FUCK a duck was in the road....

UserX · 11/03/2019 15:46

Bath has been forced to admit that the introduction of 20mph limits has actually led to an increase in accidents and deaths in some areas where it was imposed, including my village and no overall improvement in the rest.

How is that calculated?

UserX · 11/03/2019 16:29

So basically it’s the pedestrians & cyclists fault for assuming that drivers will adhere to the speed limit according to that article. Not the drivers fault for exceeding it. Makes sense.

MeltedCheese82 · 11/03/2019 17:18

Driving at 30mph around a blind bend is a bit silly

havingtochangeusernameagain · 11/03/2019 17:24

it's much safer than going at a higher speed and also saves a lot of petrol, i.e. pollution

actually it causes more pollution and you use more fuel

It would encourage more cycling, though.

30mph going round a corner sounds fine to me if the road has a 60 limit.

havingtochangeusernameagain · 11/03/2019 17:25

We have three parallel roads in our town with a 20mph limit on them. They are a pain because either people don't comply with the limit or they do and dawdle along when you are waiting to cross the road. I think 30 is fine in town.

britnay · 11/03/2019 17:29

Don't be dense. Do you know which bit of road she means? Have you seen it? I'm not sure how you can judge whether or not it is safe to drive at 30. Personally, if she isn't able to stop in time for something that is round the bend, then she was traveling too fast for the road.

The limit is 60. This is only because it would cost a HUGE amount of money to put lower speed limit signs on every bit of road in the country where you may have to slow down. You just need to drive sensibly.

Keepithidden · 11/03/2019 17:41

Rule 126 of the highway code - Stopping Distances. Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.

britnay · 11/03/2019 17:45

↑ this

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 11/03/2019 18:22

I'd probably be doing about 5mph which is unsafe for other reasons. No children on bikes or otherwise because it was very early (like 5am) and it basically only leads to the motorway so they don't use it. I'm comfortable driving round it at 30 and would slow down if it felt too fast.

I'm assuming the said duck had escaped from her garden and found its way onto the road. They've escaped before but usually stay in the village or raid people's gardens.

I put the body off the side of the road and covered it with a bag then sent her a message on Facebook to tell her what had happened. Her family have sent me nasty messages about it since then, along with her slightly batshit one about the speed limit.

OP posts:
GraceMarks · 11/03/2019 18:44

I agree that they're not behaving especially well about the matter, but what's all these comments about "it's only a duck" and jokes about duck a l'orange? It was their pet and they're allowed to be upset that it was killed. It doesn't matter if it was a dog or cat or anything else. They probably know deep down that they should have kept it in a run or something and they're lashing out in an inappropriate way because they don't want to accept their own part in all this.

Goldmandra · 11/03/2019 18:57

I'd probably be doing about 5mph which is unsafe for other reasons.

How would it be unsafe to travel at 5mph round a blind bend on a country lane?

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