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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think a 60mph road is not an appropriate place to go for a run?

43 replies

benadrylcucumberpatch · 22/06/2020 14:24

I've noticed recently people running on a main road bear me which is national speed limit.

Is this a thing now!? I live in an area with an abundance of footpaths and quiet rural roads.

Cyclists on the road are less bother as they tend to be going at about 20-30mph, so even when your stuck behind them for a few miles at least your not massively held up. With someone running it's a huge hold up if your behind them. It seems a bit selfish to expect people not to be able to use to road as intended so you can run on it!

Aibu to think it's a ridiculous place to run?

OP posts:

Jaxhog · 22/06/2020 14:27

Does the road have a solid white line down the side? If so, and you're in the UK, I don't think it is legal. Even if it doesn't, it is pretty crazy!

HowFastIsTooFast · 22/06/2020 14:31

Would I do it myself? No.

Do I understand why people might do after months of people complaining all over social media etc about 'bloody runners' taking up pathways and making social distancing harder? Yes.

TooBored · 22/06/2020 14:39

There are lots of reasons why someone might run there - it could be the only way to join 2 sections of a longer run for example.

Is there really no place to safely overtake them for miles? If so, perhaps it's not actually safe to drive at 60mph?

songbirdsings · 22/06/2020 14:42

I live on a busy road (40mph but still busy). I have to run for about 100m to get to very quiet country road- or drive to go out. It’s a pain but not much other option

MrsNoah2020 · 22/06/2020 14:46

@TooBored

There are lots of reasons why someone might run there - it could be the only way to join 2 sections of a longer run for example.

Is there really no place to safely overtake them for miles? If so, perhaps it's not actually safe to drive at 60mph?

This.

For one thing, there is no such thing as a 60 mph road. There are roads that have no specific speed limit, in which case you can do up to 60 mph (70 if dual carriageway) if it is safe to do so. You do not have some automatic right to do 60 on them and should slow down if necessary, to keep other road users safe.

The default maximum speed limit on UK roads is 60 mph, so most roads have this speed limit. Are you saying that no one apart from drivers should be allowed to use the majority of the roads in this country? Fuck that. As a cyclist, runner and walker, I am just as entitled as a motorist (I'm one of those too) to use them.

Plusher · 22/06/2020 14:46

I often run short distances on '60 mph' roads because a) as per PP, I need to to join up bits of e.g. a 5k or 10k circuit as there are no alternative footpaths/minor roads and because b) it does car drivers good to be reminded, as frequently as possible, that they don't own the roads. That all those bothersome walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders have the absolute legal and moral right to be on those '60mph' roads, and that car drivers do not. Hence the need for a licence, tax and insurance.

If it makes you impatient - tough. Slow down, chill out, and remember that you have chosen to drive a motor car along that road and that other road users don't owe you squat.

Jaxhog · 22/06/2020 14:55

I hope they are running towards you and not away from you, as advised in the Highway Code. That way they can see you too. It's still up to motorists to drive around them safely i.e. to slow down - like for any other hazard.

BTW I checked, and it is allowed everywhere except the Motorway.

MereDintofPandiculation · 22/06/2020 14:56

"quiet rural roads" are also 60mph limit and tend to have worse visibility and narrow verges, so less warning of traffic and nowhere to escape to.

Jaxhog · 22/06/2020 14:57

That all those bothersome walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders have the absolute legal and moral right to be on those '60mph' roads, and that car drivers do not.

Eh? Cars do more damage in a crash, hence the need for insurance etc. ALL have the legal and moral right to be there!!!!

lazylinguist · 22/06/2020 14:58

It depends. I live in a fairly rural area. There are lots and lots of 60mph roads which are too bendy to actually go at 60 and are quiet enough that you can easily hear a car coming. Lots of people run on them. I used to before I gave up running. There are also lots of running routes which are mostly off-road, but where you might briefly turn along a 60mph road. So I'd say YABU.

gonesolo · 22/06/2020 15:00

It is bonkers for anyone to think this would be a good idea, surely?

Plusher · 22/06/2020 15:04

Driver entitlement is like male entitlement. It's absolutely ubiquitous, but once you see it, you can't unsee it and it makes you see the world in a whole new way.

Plusher · 22/06/2020 15:06

No, @JaxhogJaxhog. Drivers don't have any legal right to drive a car regardless. That's why they have to take a test and have a licence - which can be taken away from you if you demonstrate you're not fit to drive.

No one needs a licence to walk, run, cycle or ride a horse along a public highway. Everyone has that right by default.

GreyGardens88 · 22/06/2020 15:11

Country roads aren't very safe, people seem to drive like maniacs on them

What I don't understand is when people go jogging through a town centre, or in London for example going jogging down Southbank, constantly having to stop or change direction to dodge people. Just go to the park!

aliloandabanana · 22/06/2020 15:15

Surely if you can't overtaken them, then they are running on the wrong side of the road and are therefore acting dangerously? You should walk (or run) in the opposite direction of traffic so that you can see it approaching - that's what I was always taught. That way, surely one of you would have to either stop or get completely out of the way? You wouldn't be stuck at one point, slightly behind the runner?!

isabellerossignol · 22/06/2020 15:16

I don't know really, depends where you live. There is more or less nowhere that I can run or walk near where I live that isn't a national speed limit road. I don't particularly like it, some drivers drive without paying much attention to their surroundings, and teenagers in huge tractors are particularly terrifying because it's clear that they are enjoying the thrill of driving illegally but can't actually see down to road level very well. But that's rural life, we have very few footpaths in or near my village.

LudaMusser · 22/06/2020 15:18

If you're walking, running, jogging etc on a road you should do it towards traffic. You can see the traffic and it can see you

If the ppl in question were doing this you wouldn't get stuck behind them. Why do they do it? No idea, I wouldn't myself

PatchworkElmer · 22/06/2020 15:19

I’m desperate to run a half marathon next month- I’ve planned a decent route using footpaths and fields, but there is a short stretch (maybe 400m?) where I would have to run down a national speed limit road, with no footpath. I’m reluctant to do it because I’m worried about annoying drivers/ being hooted at, etc. Still not sure I’ll attempt it tbh (yes, I could plan an alternative route, but it would involve repeating a loop, which I’d like to avoid if possible).

So anyway OP, as others have said- maybe it’s being used to connect parts of longer runs, when people have no choice?

Hingeandbracket · 22/06/2020 15:37

YANBU there's a narrow road near us which is NSL. I don't go crazy, but one morning shortly after sunrise I came over the brow of hill to find a runner dressed in black running straight towards me on my side of the road. As I wasn't doing a crazy speed I was able to avoid her - but I can't help thinking it was a little foolhardy - not everyone is as cautious as me and having a "perfect right" to be there isn't going to cut much ice if she meets that bloke I see tearing around here in a BMW M3 next time.

LuaDipa · 22/06/2020 15:45

When you live in the countryside, you don’t have many other options. Even the quiet rural roads are 60mph speed limit.

gonesolo · 22/06/2020 15:49

Treadmill at home?

icansmellburningleaves · 22/06/2020 15:50

If you’re daft enough to run on a road where most of the traffic is doing 60mph, you crack on. It’s not really about whether someone has the right, but whether they’re stupid enough to take the risk.

Cartesiandebt · 22/06/2020 15:53

I used to run alongside roads (Not 60 mph) until I got the Ordnance Survey app - it's fantastic for finding quiet lanes, footpaths, bridleways etc. Quite expensive but highly recommended if you spend much time in the countryside.

Jaxhog · 22/06/2020 15:56

@Plusher You are splitting hairs. Legitimate car drivers have a legal and moral right to be on the road, the same as the others you mentioned. TBH, I think that cyclists etc. should also have to undergo a test and have insurance to be there.

It’s not really about whether someone has the right, but whether they’re stupid enough to take the risk.

megletthesecond · 22/06/2020 15:59

Yanbu.
Not much point running for health if you might get hit by a speeding tonne of metal.

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