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's how AIBU seems to go a lot of the time.

"AIBU?"

Majority: "Yes!"

"No I'm not, you're all wrong!"

Edit because MN decided to format my post weirdly.

Did it?
Confirmation bias I think OP.
This thread has been very mixed but more have thought you were being unreasonable than not…

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.

That's the point. You can't see what they can. If you can't drive without your satnav, that's a problem.

he was probably just showing that he was bigger and more important

You also can't pull off onto the verge because they have whopping big ditches!

They also have infills at the entrance to fields, where gates are.

Of course it would. That's literally what passing places are there for.

Passing places are for allowing oncoming vehicles to pass. Parking in one to pick up your satnav is not what they are for.

Another poster with a wild imagination.

@Azzywhatty genuinely, when would you use your hazards lights? This is the prime opportunity to have used them.

Cars can come from nowhere, especially when you can’t see much behind the lorry that’s following you so you don’t know exactly how clear the road is, you’ve then pulled over, bent down to pick up a sat nav, sat and sorted it out .. but yeh, course, there’s no chance of any more cars 🙄

When the (slight) majority seem to lack basic comprehension skills and keep misquoting the Highway Code, I don’t blame the OP for disregarding much of what they say.

Hahahaha. Yes your own opinion of this thread. Funny because the majority think your actions were not fine. Maybe you also interpreted the road incorrectly, same as you have this thread 😉

I made this argument earlier, but I misunderstood the type of road OP was referring to, I don't think it was immediately obvious to most as to what type of road she was travelling on and she made no mention of her travelling at low speed, but as she was actually on a 'bob's road' with nothing else around, indicators were probably the best options to make it obvious she was 'just' pulling over.

If she had put her hazards on, it would indicate she has a problem and needs to stop (which could have been anything) and he may have even stopped and got out to check on her, which was completely unnecessary.

If there are cars behind the lorry, I fail to see the significance?

But she did have a problem, and she did need to stop. I highly doubt the driver would’ve got out unless she was there for a prolonged period.

You use hazard lights when you’re stationary. Not when you’re pulling over.

Maybe you shouldn’t be driving either then. OP is now basing her argument that this is about the fact that she inconvenienced 1 lorry. My point, if you’d read properly, she also would be a danger to other cars coming up behind, joining this same road, not expecting a car to be randomly stopped, blocking the lane.

And what were you when you were pulled over my love?

Sat and sorted it out? It took about ten seconds to clip back.

And it doesn’t matter if a car was behind the lorry. They’d clearly see my car due to it being a long, straight, visible road.

Apart from all the bikes, horses, runners, slow vehicles that use the road, and delivery drivers, visitors etc to houses that are along these minor roads.

I run along such roads all the time. I'm "forcing" cars to enter the oncoming lane when they pass me. I, and they are following the Highway Code.

OP pulled over in a safe place.

You’re also wrong hazard lights are for when the vehicle is stationary or moving slowly and is a potential hazard to other road users. Which sounds just like you 😘

Not expecting it? It’s on an open, straight road? Not a sharp bend.

But in any case I was referring to your suggesting that a car coming off the single track road ‘wouldn’t expect’ to see a stopped car - but the OP has described a long, straight road with good visibility so I don’t see why this would be the case, approaching vehicles would have plenty of warning. Perhaps you are struggling to picture what a single track lane widening into a 2 lane road looks like? There are lots of these where I live.

You don't generally have passing places on single carriageways, that would be called a lay by. Passing places are generally along single track roads, ones which allows traffic on both directions, but are not wide enough to allow them side by side.

Google says "A passing place is a section of a single-track road where vehicles can pass each other. Single-track roads are usually found in rural areas and are only wide enough for one vehicle. "

This goes to prove my suspicion that you don’t understand the configuration of the road in question. No one is ‘joining’ the road for a start. It’s a continuation of the same road.