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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Probably being unreasonable - indicating to driver to slow down?

108 replies

Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:18

I am 100% sure I'll be told that I'm an arsehole, but to be honest this day can't get much worse (not just for this reason).

So I was crossing the road. It's a long road - purely residential with 2 schools and one shop. But it's a very straight road.

Obviously, I'm presuming the limit is maybe 50kph. (Don't know as I don't drive here).

So I'm crossing the road and this BOLLOCKS in an SUV comes over the hill doing 80mph if not 90mph. I'm in the middle of the road, so being in bad fucking humour and feeling fucked off in general, I stood still in the middle of the road and waved him down (with the slow down movement). I then tootled across the road. The other small-pricked cunt of a bollocks hoots the horn at me (blasts it for 10 seconds) as he passes me by.

So, jury, which of us was the bigger lunatic? Me trying to direct traffic or the arrogant speeding bastard?

OP posts:
Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:21

I can't be 100% sure that I didn't have an element of a defiant death wish. He saw me from about 300 metres away, so I wasn't really in any danger, but he fucking pissed me off massively the speed he was doing.

OP posts:
mencken · 01/01/2020 14:23

if you are in the UK it isn't legal to drive over 70mph anywhere. If the road is one lane in each direction the limit is 60mph unless signs make it less.

lucky he didn't run you down deliberately and as it is Jan 1, a fair few drivers will still be drunk. But you were absolutely in the right to wave abuse. Hopefully he'll hit a tree soon.

TheReluctantCountess · 01/01/2020 14:26

That’s a crazy thing to do.

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:27

I'm in London and while I'm not 100% sure, I think there's a speed limit on this road because of the two schools. He wasn't doing 70mph, he nearly took flight coming across the hill. I would imagine he was doing 80mph at least. The hill is about 300metres from me and I was in the middle of the road, and I'd have had to dash the rest of the way across the road if he maintained his speed, so I was not in the humour to be intimidated! Hence deciding to flag him down lol. Prick like him.

OP posts:
KrisAkabusi · 01/01/2020 14:28

So you didn't know the speed limit, you can't know what speed he was doing, but you put yourself in unnecessary danger by standing in the middle of the road waving at traffic? If I was him, I'd probably have beeped at you as well. You sound dangerous!

DDiva · 01/01/2020 14:28

80/90 mph really ? That sounds unbelievable.
However standing in the middle of the road is ridiculous, how were they supposed to know you were going to move in time ? Had you considered other traffic may have been impacted buy them suddenly breaking ?

I'm not condoning speeding but it's not the place of pedestrians to prevent it by standing in the road !

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:28

Countess, I wasn't in the humour to be sane at the time lol.

OP posts:
Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:30

No-one behind him or oncoming. As I said the road is straight for at least half a mile. I was crossing the road and the road was clear, then this twit flies over the hill terrifying me, so I got bold and decided to just stand there rather than scuttle out of his way.

OP posts:
Greysparkles · 01/01/2020 14:32

There's no way someone was going 80/90mph on a residential street in London. There's just no way, 50mph I'd believe.
But you're a loon OP and lucky to be alive tbh

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:32

He slowed down, then I proceeded across. He blew his horn and I called him a prickhead. I'm not usually this classy Wink

OP posts:
AhoyMrBeaver · 01/01/2020 14:32

If he was really doing 80-90mph down a hill in a built up area (unlikely), I'd have assumed his brakes had failed and he was out of control.

DDiva · 01/01/2020 14:35

If they were going that fast you must have decided your action was 'safe ' in a split second its lucky you judged the situation correctly. You had no idea how quickly they were going to react, I would have expected a pedestrian to continue walking not just stop in the road.

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:35

It's a straight road with no ramps. Across from one of the schools there's a pedestrian crossing and pelican crossings further up, but believe me, I drive, and I know what speed he was doing. He literally flew over the hill and was doing a serious speed. You'd need to see the road, but it's a very long road, at least a half a mile and it was entirely empty apart from pricknaddy.

OP posts:
Sosososotired · 01/01/2020 14:37

Yabu. You put yourself in danger, and it’s very hard to judge the speed of a car sometimes. Unlikely it was going 80-90mph, he would hardly have had time to stop. Not saying he shouldn’t have been speeding, but you were still behaving irresponsibly.

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:37

I suppose there was an element of me feeling that I wouldn't have been able to get out of the way in time if he continued, so I stood stock still and waved him down.

OP posts:
hocuspocusbitch · 01/01/2020 14:39

Thought you didn't drive??? That's what you said in op.....

hocuspocusbitch · 01/01/2020 14:40

You said you don't drive here! Sorry op 🤪

Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:40

If I had tried to proceed across the road I'd have been mown down. I think I actually froze to an extent and did all I could do which was to flap my arm up and down in the slow down motion. He slowed while I crossed and then blasted his horn. Probably the only use of his horn he gets - blowing his own.

OP posts:
Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:41

I don't drive here but I do drive. Read again.

OP posts:
Original poster
Shedidnt · 01/01/2020 14:42

Anyway, I lived to tell the tale!

OP posts:
StreetwiseHercules · 01/01/2020 14:42

Amazing how good people seem to be at calculating speeds of vehicles using just their eyes.

TowelStripes · 01/01/2020 14:42

Doesn't drive in this country...

slashlover · 01/01/2020 14:43

If I had tried to proceed across the road I'd have been mown down.

If he slowed down when you stopped moving then he could have slowed down if you kept moving.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 01/01/2020 14:43

I suspect the speed is greatly exaggerated, even if innocently. It always feels a lot faster to a static pedestrian than reality.

His stopping distance at that speed would be 100+ metres.

DGRossetti · 01/01/2020 14:44

80/90 mph really ? That sounds unbelievable.

There's no way someone was going 80/90mph on a residential street in London.

On my speed awareness course Blush we were shown the results of a traffic census outside a school with a 30mph limit. Between 9am-3pm (a week schoolday) 3 cars went past at over 70, with one hitting 90. Over 40% of cars were doing between 40 and 50.

Before we saw the results, the instructors played us a video driving along the same road and we all correctly identified it as being a 30mph road (which was the point of the exercise).