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??)

Maybe you don't drive along roads like OP then.
As others have mentioned, it's not at all uncommon where I live.

You could read this https://www.passmefast.co.uk/resources/learning-to-drive/manoeuvre-and-skill-guides/pulling-over-safely
Signal: as soon as you think it's safe to proceed, you need to use your indicators to signal your intention to pull over on the left.

It is a road network. That road wasn’t going to take me straight to my door. I did seem it safe to pull over.

That is not the actual road. It’s just an example of one. I have no idea what the actual road was called - they’re so rural they don’t come up with names on Google maps.

You don't just stop in the road for anything other than an emergency (which this was not), whether there were 2 lanes or not. Very odd behaviour. Could you not have managed without it until an actual layby, petrol station or something else?

There aren't kerbs on many rural roads. Do you really not know the difference between pulling over to stop on a residential road with pavements/ kerbs, where parking is routine vs stopping on the carriageway of country road?

It's like people you see stopped in the road to use a mobile...very odd.

OP, were you worried about the lorry? You say he was going too fast and you slowing down would have meant he needed to slow down?

If he was making you feel unsafe then that’s a different matter.

I think if the lorry driver had a problem with your driving he would have given you a blast of his horn rather than a quick cheery toot.

Well. Actually.

Having taken a UK driving test this decade. This is a manoeuvre that frequently forms a part of the test.

You are on a rural road with a lane going in each direction. You’re asked to ‘pull over when it’s safe to do so’.

As long as it’s not a red route or double yellows or other markings saying you can’t stop, you’re expected to pull over asap. And then ‘move off when it’s safe to do so’.

I live rurally and it’s quite normal to see people parked on the side of the road like this, nevermind stopping briefly. For example when people go for hikes and leave their car on the road. You just overtake, I overtake them dozens of times a day.

Only thing I’d say is maybe the lorry didn’t have enough space to overtake safely and got annoyed, but according to what I was trained to do, totally standard manoeuvre.

RAC says:

Overtaking
On roads that have a higher level of traffic, the overtaking opportunities are clearly marked and signposted.
However, on country roads overtaking can be challenging and dangerous.
Overtaking on single-lane roads can be daunting for drivers, but it’s an important manoeuvre to master safely and confidently on order to travel in the UK’s rural areas.

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-on-country-roads-your-complete-guide/

You said,"
So the first photo is the single lane (shared by both directions of traffic.)
I did not stop here.
The single lane then widened into the second photo.
At this point I indicated left, pulled to the side as far as safety allowed, and stopped.
"

What about people who live on these roads? You think the postman, bin people, delivery drivers, friends etc don't pull up on the side of the road? Some people actually PARK on such roads.

Do you really have this vision of a network of roads where No One Must Stop unless it's an emergency?

She didn’t just come to a grinding halt in the middle of the road 😆 She pulled over.

I have to do this every time I arrive home as I don't have a drive. I could leave it in the nearest petrol station I suppose but that's going to annoy the owners.

Of course you stop on the roads. What about all of the parked cars you see on public roads? All the people parked outside their homes without drives?

Good post LindtCurves

No, not if you're in the middle of Bumblefuck and need to call someone.

No, I wasn’t worried. I was only doing about 20mph on the single track lane and stopped as soon as it separated into two.

Someone is snippy. You said you were expecting people to manoeuvre off the road when they indicate. Did you clarify the type of road? No, you did not.

Edit - if you crash into the back of someone who has indicated in good time and pulled into the left "it wasn't routine" will not help you.

OP, he probably thought you were pulling over specifically to let him pass, and honked to thank you.

I am telling you that it is an example of the lanes, not the exact place.

Please don’t drive down rural roads with this attitude. If you pull off a lot of them you’ll need that lorry to pull you out or a farmer with his tractor. Please stay in town or on the motorway.

Well, quite!

Another point is, when driving on rural roads like these who has had tractors etc pull over like OP did to let them pass? Because I have. When the traffic is piling up behind them, slow vehicles often do this.

If the lorry had been behind OP for any length of time on a single track road, he probably thought OP was just stopping to let him past.

If OP stopped safely with decent visibility then what they did was absolutely fine. Sometimes people need to stop/ slow on roads and as long as it's done sensibly there isn't a problem.

They are legally obliged to in fact.