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??)

Then lots of people share the delirium. I think the lorry driver was thanking OP.

I understood your description and drive on rural Northumberland roads a lot. You were wrong, especially with a lorry behind. You should've continued until there was something you could've pulled off onto more safely. Usually a farm track of field entrance on these roads.

I was referring to the OP’s use of the term ‘lane’ vs ‘carriageway’. A lot of posters seem to be confused between the two.

I don’t see delirium, I see a perfectly normal situation on a rural road. I’ve done it myself if slow drivers have pulled in for me, likewise others have tooted me when I’ve pulled in for them to pass.

This place is fucking nuts.
Don’t worry OP, you did nothing wrong. Remember most people on here don’t even open the front door to anyone let alone drive in the real world.

I don’t agree that a car stopped legally on a straight, clear road with good visibility is a hazard
A car stopped isn't. A car stopping with a lorry behind with only using turning signals is.

In the former, you have plenty of time to see it, assess you environment, and decide of your own accord if it is safe to pass.

In the latter, you are confused about the intention of the driver, and find yourself having to decide in less than a few seconds whether to stop a heavy vehicle or trust the car driver that is safe to pass as you can't see all the road.

Very different circumstances.

So no car can stop if anything is behind them?

But nobody was "forcing them" to do anything! I come across this sort of situation very frequently, where a vehicle is stopped at the side of the road and I have to enter the opposite side of the road in order to get past it. It's pretty obvious that I need to wait until it is safe to do so before moving out around the stopped vehicle.

I might add, that some of these stopped vehicles (usually delivery vans) are on busy A-roads. There is nowhere else for them to stop, as they are making deliveries. Traffic simply waits for a gap in oncoming traffic before negotiating around them.

If you were crawling along at 20mph he was probably tooting to say thanks for getting out of the way.

This is seen all the time, and appreciated, rurally - usually in the scenario of either tractors, or 'Sunday drivers', pulling over on a straight stretch of road to allow faster traffic to overtake. So I don't think you did anything wrong, though you could have switched from indicator to hazards once you stopped the car. It was either a beep of thanks (for pulling over to allow him to progress), a beep of 'here I am' to make sure you didn't pull out again into him, or a beep of anger as it slightly inconvenienced him, and he didn't think he should be inconvenienced.

Do people really toot to say thank you??

On a single lane track with pot holes all over it.

The beep was probably a thank you or a I'm passing you beep.

Lorry drivers are the best tooters, from what I see on YouTube.

And this post is why people think you were on a carriageway. Because you answered "carriageway" when asked if you stopped on a carriageway.

Yes? He would have been glad to get passed you.

They're certainly not supposed to. If someone tooted me I'd assume I'd done something wrong in their eyes

They have some very musical toots.

That was like the Hearse thread, anyone remember that? When the hearse pulled onto a dual carriageway (after it had done the obligatory slow drive) posters were saying the OP shouldn’t dare overtake it and should drive behind it all the way to the crematorium, causing a tailback of about 30 miles 😆

edited to say the OP of that thread wasn’t part of the funeral.

Without knowing the exact road conditions it’s hard to tell. Depends how quick you stopped or if going up or down a steep hill or something else entirely. Fully laden lorries don’t stop and start quickly, especially on hills, so whilst the area you stopped may be fine for a car, it could be a lot more difficult for a lorry

Lorries and vans don't seem to care about potholes, once I saw a Morrisons delivery van going down a farm type track with very deep ruts at speed, I doubt the grocery arrived in any fit state.

I was on a carriageway. A carriageway is a road.

You did nothing wrong.

In driving lessons/test, they teach you how to pull over in a safe place, and it is taught in exactly the way you have described on a straight road (indicating before you pull to the side of the road). The lorry should be driving with enough space to slow down and pass you safely.

Well, I disagree. I don’t think indicating left on a country lane with no upcoming entrances or turns is at all confusing. What else could be happening?

And if the lorry driver doesn’t have the time to react then they were either too close, too fast, or both.

Admittedly I don’t think it is sensible to stop with a lorry right behind you, but the hazard is not the stopping car, it’s the lorry that is driving dangerously.

I've read all the OP's posts and some of the batshit responses.

It looks similar to where I live. Finding a residential street or such like to pull over in is very hard. There are miles and miles of roads like OP's second photo.

If it's safe to do so then it's completely OK to pull over.
I imagine the truck beeped because they were driving too close to OP.

She didn't pull over near a bend, junction, bus stop (not safe), or on double yellow or a cycle lane (illegal).