Did I do anything wrong here? Driving

[Azzywhatty]

I drove home from rural Northumberland today. On a single track road my sat nav fell out of its holder onto the passenger side floor. There was a lorry behind me. I continued along the single track road until it widened into two lanes, then indicated left, slowed down and stopped so I could pick it back up.

The lorry behind me beeped as I stopped. Did I do anything wrong here? I indicated and slowed and waited until the road went back to two lanes and it was safe to stop. I can’t work out why he was beeping.

There was no other traffic in either direction.

YANBU - you did nothing wrong
YABU - you did something wrong (what and why??)

It doesn't sound like the sort of road that would have good space and visibility for a lorry to be overtaking anyone...

You shouldn't have stopped at all until you were able to pull into a hard shoulder or layby. Minimally, you should have used your hazards to indicate that you were coming to a halt on a road.

I agree.

Just stopping on a road and putting your indicator in isn't great, especially with a lorry behind you and in a rural area. It wouldn't have been safe for the lorry to pass.
Could you not have waited and pulled over somewhere more suitable?

So did the lorry have to stop and wait behind you while you picked the sat nav up? Or could he drive past whilst you pulled over and out of the road.

If you just indicated and stopped and there was no room for him to pass then YES you were in the wrong. You don’t just stop.

No, I put my indicator on and then stopped. To indicate I was stopping.

I can’t see why it wasn’t safe for him to pass. It was two lanes, a straight road, and I was pulled over to one side of the left lane.

He could and did pass me without stopping.

You don't stop in the road to do that, you find a road to turn off into and park.

Yes you did do something wrong, you don't stop in the middle of a lane! As a PP has pointed out, stop in a lay by or other parking place

This doesn’t make sense. You don’t stop in the road - you turn into another road to stop?

You should really have waited for a lay-by or safer place to stop, not just stopped and blocked the road. Although people do do this on residential roads, dropping/picking passengers. It’s quite selfish but people do it - but they do use their hazards at least, then there’s no doubt.

See, this is the type of thread where you will get posters falling over themselves, determined to convince you you are the worst driver on earth no matter what you say.

Sounded perfectly safe to me - the lorry driver was probably just erring on the side of caution and making you aware they were passing you just in case you hadn't realised they were there. IMHO.

Middle of the lane? I indicated I was pulling over, and then pulled over. I said so in the OP.

Are you sure the road wasn't a clearway? Also most car drivers underestimate how different lorries are to manoeuvre so it may have been difficult for him to have to overtake when he wasn't expecting to.

You can't just block a lane to stop OP. You should have waited for a layby.

Jesus Christ. I didn’t block the road. Can people not read?

I didn’t block the lane! I pulled over. The lorry passed me.

Why ask if you think you were right?

Did you pull right off the road, into a layby or entrance splay or similar? Or did you stop on the carriageway (the oncoming lane is irrelevant).

Frankly some men will just beep anyone. He might not have been paying attention and gave himself a fright.

If a car couldn't continue forwards in the lane you were currently in, you were blocking it. One lane is still a section of road. Unless you were pulled into hard shoulder or completely out of the lane you were blocking the road. The fact someone could move into the second lane doesn't negate you blocking one lane of the road.

Why did you ask for opinions if you are so sure your behaviour was acceptable?

Carriageway, but enough room for overtaking, especially on the long Roman roads with no other traffic.

@Azzywhatty you turn into a side road where you can park. Parking is safely at the side of a suitable road.

This doesn’t make sense though. Cars park on one side of a road all of the time causing other cars to go around them. Most residential streets have this.

Your OP doesn’t say you pulled off the road. It says you slowed down and stopped. Which reads that you came to a stop in the middle of the road.

You should have carried on until you could pull over onto a verge/pavement, showing that you are going to stop with your hazards.

In olden days when I learned to drive we were still taught to put our arm out of the window and flap it slowly up and down to show we were stopping.

Well in that case yes - you did do something wrong.

You don't stop on the carriageway and force the traffic behind you to overtake. If I'd been behind you, I wouldn't just have beeped, I'd have wound down my passenger window and called you a fucking idiot.