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Original poster

Did I do anything wrong here? Driving

1000 replies

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 13:48

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??)

OP posts:
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11
Carryingcarrying · 27/01/2025 17:06

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:04

NO ONE WAS DOING 60MPH.

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Are you ok hun 😂

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 17:06

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 16:57

No. What if a deer had ran out in front of my car causing me to emergency stop? Lorry drivers are responsible for being able to stop their vehicle.

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I'll try again...

LORRY DRIVERS STILL NEED A GREATER STOPPING DISTANCE! They aren't responsible for flipping physics!

What do you think would have happened if the weight he was carrying was still pushing the lorry forward? Made him sprout wings and fly over you saving the deers life?

Jesus Christ....

StripyDog · 27/01/2025 17:08

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:04

NO ONE WAS DOING 60MPH.

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Don’t shout at me. Completely unnecessary.

At no point did I say anyone was doing 60mph. What I said was people don’t expect other drivers to stop on an open road where the limit is 50/60mph in the same way they’d expect traffic to stop on a 30mph residential road.

Mapandthermos · 27/01/2025 17:09

So now cars should never stop if there is a lorry behind them? Or break if a lorry is behind them?

Not at all OP, but people are saying you may have stopped a little unexpectedly. To be fair to the lorry driver, it was an unusual place to stop. He should be (and was) able to respond properly of course, but it’s not something I’d chance personally being used to those sort of roads.
A lot does depend on the distance between you and the time you spent indicating etc. Possibly I just have trust issues 😅 But I have seen people do really stupid things on the road and too many near accidents over the years to be too trusting.

Jenala · 27/01/2025 17:09

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 17:06

I'll try again...

LORRY DRIVERS STILL NEED A GREATER STOPPING DISTANCE! They aren't responsible for flipping physics!

What do you think would have happened if the weight he was carrying was still pushing the lorry forward? Made him sprout wings and fly over you saving the deers life?

Jesus Christ....

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The fact he needed greater stopping distance doesn't mean you can't pull over. In fact, lorry drivers should keep greater space between them and the vehicle in front to allow for the fact they have a greater stopping distance. If pulling over you should try do to so in a way that takes into account it's a lorry behind you but it's still lorry drivers responsibility to leave themselves space.

Are you saying no one can ever pull over with a lorry or heavy vehicle behind them?

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 17:09

Okay, I think he probably just beeped because he liked your hair then.

I'm out 😂

Original poster
Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:09

StripyDog · 27/01/2025 17:02

Would you mirror, signal and manoeuvre on a dual carriageway? Or a busy 60mph road?

Just because you can stop, doesn’t mean you should!

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You can’t stop on dual carriageways though. Or at least not on the majority. They’re usually clearways.

OP posts:
ThreeCheersFor5Years · 27/01/2025 17:10

edwardcullensotherwoman · 27/01/2025 15:40

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.

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I really doubt in this situation there’s anything to thank for

ProfessionalPirate · 27/01/2025 17:11

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 16:46

Often people assume a lorry can just stop as fast as a car can stop. It takes a far longer stopping distance for a multi tonne lorry to stop. Just because you were able to slow down and pull over doesn't necessarily mean the lorry would be able to slow down behind you at the same speed depending on what it was carrying. Sometimes at maximum weight a lorry keeps moving forward for a considerable distance before coming to a halt - which can mean going straight into the back of the car in front and still moving forward, so although it may have been a safe place for you to slow down and pull over, it might not have given the lorry enough stopping distance to slow down behind you adequately enough to pass safety. Even at relatively low speed It's possible he just wasn't able to slow down very quickly behind you if he was carrying substantial weight which was pushing him forwards.

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I don’t know anyone that ‘assume a lorry can stop as fast as a car can stop’. Surely anyone with half a brain cell, and certainly anyone that has passed their driving test, knows that a lorry has a much longer stopping distance than a car? Chances are, the OP took the fact that the vehicle behind her was an HGV into consideration when she made her manoeuvre.

Original poster
Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:11

CautiousLurker01 · 27/01/2025 17:03

Sneering isn’t a good look - I qualified my answer with reference to YOU saying there were two lanes? And yes, plenty of single lane roads lead to cottages and farmhouses and then onto the dual carriageway near me, after all the lane you referenced was clearly wide enough to be used by a lorry. The A31 has plenty of such roads that adjoin it.

Clearly you don’t really want to know ‘if’ you were right, do you? You already feel you were.

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I would be interested to see any example of a single lane track joining a dual carriageway.

OP posts:
Ramblethroughthebrambles · 27/01/2025 17:11

C8H10N4O2 · 27/01/2025 15:16

Just remember OP that next time you should ignore the fact that a large vehicle can pass safely and that its a long straight road with good visibility.

Instead you must just keep on driving until you turn into a smaller road (where you still can't stop because its a road) and just keep driving on until you come to a town with a car park (because village roads are also often unpaved roads).

Once in the town with a car park you can use your sat nav to find your way back to the other road which is now thirty miles away.

This thread is nuts.

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Sums it up brilliantly! I'm beginning to wonder if MNtters are responsible for a significant part of the climate emergency - all those people just driving and driving...

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 17:12

Jenala · 27/01/2025 17:09

The fact he needed greater stopping distance doesn't mean you can't pull over. In fact, lorry drivers should keep greater space between them and the vehicle in front to allow for the fact they have a greater stopping distance. If pulling over you should try do to so in a way that takes into account it's a lorry behind you but it's still lorry drivers responsibility to leave themselves space.

Are you saying no one can ever pull over with a lorry or heavy vehicle behind them?

Edited
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No. I'm saying they should anticipate the lorry behind them might be carrying a lot of weight and might not be able to slow down behind them quick enough.

Over and out. Bye.

Original poster
Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:12

Curtainqueen · 27/01/2025 17:06

I'll try again...

LORRY DRIVERS STILL NEED A GREATER STOPPING DISTANCE! They aren't responsible for flipping physics!

What do you think would have happened if the weight he was carrying was still pushing the lorry forward? Made him sprout wings and fly over you saving the deers life?

Jesus Christ....

Show quote history

And other drivers are not responsible for ensuring that lorry drivers leave enough space between the lorry and vehicle in front of them.

OP posts:
AnotherWeekAnotherUsername · 27/01/2025 17:12

Carryingcarrying · 27/01/2025 17:06

Are you ok hun 😂

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No, she’s not ok, she’s fighting a losing battle against non drivers loons on this thread who keep making stuff up 😆

L0bstersLass · 27/01/2025 17:13

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 16:56

I thought people would read the thread. I’ve said multiple times that neither of us would’ve been doing much over 20mph.

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@Azzywhatty Well he wasn't because you were in front of him, doing 20mph on what you've described as "very straight roads with very good visibility."

Fencehedge · 27/01/2025 17:14

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:12

And other drivers are not responsible for ensuring that lorry drivers leave enough space between the lorry and vehicle in front of them.

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Tell us you've never driven a lorry without telling us you've never driven a lorry..

Choccyscofffy · 27/01/2025 17:14

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 16:47

I did think that must’ve been the reason for the toot. I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong so could only thing he was too close and too fast compared to the speed I was doing.

If he was going too fast, too close to you, I would have sped up and away. Slowing down to pull up on the road would have been dangerous.

Ariela · 27/01/2025 17:16

Are you sure the lorry didn't beep you @Azzywhatty to say 'I know you've stopped, but I'm passing so DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR AND GET OUT as I'm going to hit you if you do'?

Because I'd do that if I thought you might. Which you might if, say the reason for stopping was you broke down/ran out of fuel etc

CousinBob · 27/01/2025 17:16

Such a funny thread!

Original poster
Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:16

L0bstersLass · 27/01/2025 17:13

@Azzywhatty Well he wasn't because you were in front of him, doing 20mph on what you've described as "very straight roads with very good visibility."

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Fuck me. No, I said that I was doing 20mphish on a single track lane. Which then turned into a Roman road with two lanes.

OP posts:
2025willbemytime · 27/01/2025 17:16

Onekidnoclue · 27/01/2025 14:05

Absolutely nailed it!

some parts of the road are for driving. Some are for stopping and parking.

you were in the “moving” section of the road and you stopped. This isn’t ok. Using hazards to indicate that you’ll be coming to a stop in a “moving” section of the road would’ve made it better as other road users would’ve known what to expect.

it’s hardly crime of the century but you shouldn’t have stopped where you did and if you “had” to because there was an emergency then you shouldn’t use hazards to indicate this.

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You're contradicting yourself..

Jenala · 27/01/2025 17:16

Fencehedge · 27/01/2025 17:14

Tell us you've never driven a lorry without telling us you've never driven a lorry..

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Tell us you're a poor lorry driver without telling us you're a poor lorry driver...

StripyDog · 27/01/2025 17:17

Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:09

You can’t stop on dual carriageways though. Or at least not on the majority. They’re usually clearways.

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I’m assuming you’ve never been to Milton Keynes then?

Original poster
Azzywhatty · 27/01/2025 17:18

StripyDog · 27/01/2025 17:17

I’m assuming you’ve never been to Milton Keynes then?

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Never.

OP posts:
AnotherWeekAnotherUsername · 27/01/2025 17:19

Ramblethroughthebrambles · 27/01/2025 17:11

Sums it up brilliantly! I'm beginning to wonder if MNtters are responsible for a significant part of the climate emergency - all those people just driving and driving...

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😆🤣 That reminds me of another MN thread where posters were saying they never change lanes on the motorway. If they see a filter lane joining the motorway ahead they will still poodle along in the slow lane. They said it is up to the drivers joining the motorway to stop until they have passed 🤣😆🤣

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