AIBU - Weeing in lay-bys is anti social and fines should apply

[Thriftnugget]

Item in the news- Dacorum Borough Council have stopped issuing fines for wild wees in lay-bys.
I know that this is on a technicality (anti littering law used and wild wees not classed as litter) but I think people weeing in lay-bys is appalling. It should be subject to fines. I can forgive toddlers/ young children but not adults. There are solutions for those with medical conditions that mean urgent wees are a symptom. And it’s always men. Women need urgent wees too (possibly more so, pregnancy etc) and we don’t pull up in lay-bys and squat in front of passing traffic. AIBU?

The defence is perfectly simple and very valid - if you're bursting for a wee then you're distracted and an unsafe driver.

I think there should perhaps be rules about where people wee but if it's behind a bush outside for example does it matter?

I’m a woman. Wee’d (weed?) in many a lay by. Often nipped into bushes when I walked our old dog, too.

I find your post so endearing. Reminds me of my mum! Once a gardener, always a gardener

I really can't get worked up about this, it's not like anyone goes to a layby to spend quality time there.

If people are weeing at particular lay-by there is clearly a need for a loo.

Lots of lay-by on continent have loos.

I've pissed in layby. I don't really see the problem with it. I've been on (non motorway) journeys where I just can't see any other option and need a wee, so I just do it in a layby. If pissing in laybys becomes a problem, I suppose I could piss in my car onto a puppy pad and put that in the bin. Much less friendly to the environment. And I'd feel safer pissing in a layby than in a random public toilet.

Like a lot of stuff in the UK, we have rubbish facilities and then moan when people have to act outside of those facilities.

So where to go then .loo In a layby on favourite route is locked at 5pm.you couldn't make it up.several miles to garage/loo!

The road that my drive leads off has become just like a lay-by as it's hidden away. The number of cars parked up and even buses and lorries is increasing and it's becoming an open toilet. It's fucking disgusting and although there's vegetation to one side people piss all over the road and on the side with the houses on. As there's no pavement i have to walk with the kids through it all so yes it does affect people.

It's also littered with takeaway packaging where people park up in the evening and lots park up at lunch time so throw all their rubbish into the road. People don't give a shit how they affect others and not having rules/fines just lets people think it's fine for them to do it.

I've never peed outside and as I have 2 toddlers who will be potty training soon I've got 2 portable potties with bags that collect the wee, so they absolutely will not be peeing anywhere they feel like either.

The ONLY excuse in my view is medical reasons. I'm sure most people with a medical condition will be mitigating the problems as much as possible, not just thinking 'well I can, so I will' like the majority of people pissing in lay-bys regularly.
For the record, I've never seen a woman pissing all over my street in broad daylight, just men.

You are assuming I had an audience. Most lay-bys have bushes etc.
Tend to come off the smart motorway and look for somewhere quiet. Or a cafe etc

Actually,you wouldn't see my fanny.
My bum possibly but only if your into voyeurism and walked round the bush or tree.
By the way, I didn't go shopping and choose kidney disease or bladder problems at the supermarket.

Edit.
Sorry posted in the wrong place

Weeing by the roadside = not OK according to some people here
Worsening kids asthma with your petrol/diesel car = of course this is OK 🤔

My in laws used to live in a street,in the country,where houses where on one side and fields on the other

Just opposite their house,was a lay-by

At least 3 times a day,men would stop for a piss-in full view (on one memorable moment,one peed on my in-laws drive but that's another story)

If they'd gone 3 minutes down the road,there was a forest they could have gone in-nobody would have known they where there

It's disgusting that they thought they could go in the lay-by in full view of the whole street

I have weed in a lay-by - and I am female. Needs must.

One of the problems is that there are so few public toilets in the UK.

It's not as if I was they were facing traffic FFS.

@Teajenny7 I’m not arguing against wild wees for anyone, it’s just a factual statement that it comes out of that area for everyone. A man can hardly avoid that and by and large I don’t believe that they are motivated to be an exhibitionist when they do 🤷‍♀️

@SonyaBoot I would definitely prefer people to urinate on a grass verge/up a tree over into a bottle. It’s the worst of every world.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 but your describing a slightly different problem as obviously your road isn’t a lay-by. Have you spoken to your council about tackling the problem?

Indeed. "Well, m'lord, I was desperate for the toilet. I was aware of the new laws so didn't want to get fined so was only able to get to Sandbach in time by driving at 130mph".
"Quite right. Case dismissed, you're free to go" etc...

Heaven help if some of you went for a trail run. Pretty sure you can't count yourself as a fully fledged trail runner until you've done your first wild wee. I often wish I was a man and could just go at the side of the trail instead of having to find a bush and then the squat and reveal as little of my backside as possible (it is a skill).
I remember doing Brighton marathon being very jealous of the line of men along a bank, knowing that unless I wanted go give everyone a good look at my unmentionables I needed to run another mile and join the queue at the portaloo.

Unless there's something to suggest he (because let's face it, a flasher is likely to be male) is intentionally exposing himself, I can't get worked up over a wee when needed.

I'm slightly playing devils' advocate here, but if someone doesn't know the area, how are they supposed to know that there's somewhere more discrete coming up in a few miles?

I've often been desperate for a wee, pulled over and then carried on and realised it would have been easier to go in the next lay-by instead.

Of course nobody should be peeing on someone's driveway, though.

People pee all over the place in Europe too. Let's say it - particularly men.

Litter is so much more offensive and less necessary than wee. NO ONE ever needs to litter. It is not painful to carry litter in your car until you get to a bin. When people really need a toilet, it is painful to wait, and toilets are much more scarce and hard to access than litter bins. I get upset by litter, not wee, though I do think men should have the decency to hide in the bushes, (as I do when I need to go).

Just a mention as well about other european cities, I havent found it easy to find toilets just open to the public there either, they're often not free, or if they are in a cafe theres only one for quite a big cafe and they're always wet all over the rim (never any seat), flush doesnt work, no paper, wet on the floor, lock doesnt work. Horrendous. Plus that each time I need a wee I then need a coffee or drink in order to use it creating more loo need later in the day.

At attractions and tourist sites they are very scanty, huge queues and always in a terrible state again.

Dont know about motorway toilets as we go to cities.

Coach loads of men queuing up weeing into a hedge though, always makes me laugh. I miss the naked ramblers most though. A holiday wasn’t a proper holiday until we saw a naked rambler and people would BIP their car horns.

I have a weak pelvic floor after 4 dc and worry a lot about toilets.... I keep a jug in the car with loo roll, nappy sacks, a big bottle of water, antibac and hand wash. A DIY toilet in the back seat. No drama, works perfectly, discreetly and hygienically.