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??)

Courtesy is one reason.

Safety is another. Stopping to collect children or at a house etc is different to a quite random stop on a country road. More difficult to anticipate. Of course the lorry driver should - and was - able to adjust, but no harm on erring on the side of caution in this particular type of situation imho.
Unfortunately drivers don’t always pay 100% attention to the road all the time, as is obvious from the number of accidents that occur...

I completely disagree with you here. Indicating to pull over is a totally correct thing to do, just as indicating to turn would be.

My driveway is concealed and pretty hard to spot actually, but that is irrelevant - the presence of driveway entrances shouldn’t make a difference. Indicating is enough of a warning to any driver that the car infront is preparing to turn and/or pull over. There doesn’t need to be an ‘obvious reason’ for it.

I haven’t explained the scenario well enough if you think I will be out of the way momentarily when I turn into my drive. a car following close behind me would have to come to a full stop and wait. We also have regular visitors and delivery drivers that just pull in and stop there.

I’m amazed that you think it’s ok to ignore someone indicating tbh. No wonder you think it comes as an unexpected surprise when someone pulls over!

Not really a majority though is it?

Isn’t it?

Also, @sandyhappypeople you don't even know what type of lorry it was or what size it was. Not all have cabs that move independently from the back end. Many are just one big vehicle. No swinging involved.

That's what indicators are for. So no one has to anticipate anything.

Are you really that daft to not know the different between a 60mph country lane and a 30mph residential street?

Cars stop to pick their kids up from the side of the road.
The lorry behind also see the children, so anticipate the hazard at the same time as the car in front.

Cars stop to let people cross the road.
The lorry behind also see the people, so anticipates the hazard at the same time as the car in front.

Cars stop to let cars join from side roads.
The lorry behind also see the cars, so anticipates what is likely to happen at the same time as the car in front.

He had no time to anticipate the hazard (as there wasn't one) and could only react to OP as started indicating and slowing down.. at that point she is already slowing down right in front of him. On a 60mph country lane in the middle of nowhere someone stopping in the middle of the road in front of you for no apparent reason is not something you would normally anticipate, so he did what he should and moved round her but it's likely he would have appreciated a bit more notice to have moved over on to the other side of the road to overtake, hence the beep.

Do you think OP was considerate when she stopped where she did?

it wouldn't really matter what type it was, from a starting point behind another vehicle, a long vehicle (even a bus) would have to swing out to avoid the back coming in to contact with whatever they are overtaking.

She indicated that she was going to stop therefore it would not have been a surprise to him that she stopped. He anticipated it from her indicating. 🙃

I have no issue with where or how she stopped. She did it correctly.

That's only relevant if the big vehicle isn't already moving. It's physics.

Do you often find it this difficult to cope when people disagree with you?

Well I can’t say that I’ve gone through the entire thread, counted every poster for or against and disregarded those who hadn’t understood the OP. Impressed if you’ve bothered to do this!

I’m amazed that you think it’s ok to ignore someone indicating tbh.

not sure what that even means to be fair.

My point is about hazard perception, if you are following a car that is travelling at normal speed and then starts to indicate, you are aware something is about to happen pretty much as soon as it happens, so you slow down to see what they are doing, you will already have a good idea from their road position & surroundings whether they will be pulling up at the side of the road or turning left so you adjust according.

With no hazard to anticipate (because there wasn't one), all the lorry driver did was react to OP indicating then slowing down to a stop in front of him for no apparent reason, no hazards on so it would have been blindingly obvious that she could have picked anywhere to stop, but she has CHOSEN to stop in the road, right in front of him, it's inconsiderate whichever way you look at it.

I’d feel more confident about them if someone hadn’t crashed into us once because they didn’t see a red traffic light 😅
Look, as I said, people should be paying attention always, but occasionally drivers do get distracted. Who knows…maybe the lorry driver was thinking about his own sat nav which had mysteriously just fallen off 😁
A car will always come out worse in a run in with a lorry. No harm at all in being careful and courteous.

57% is hardly a landslide is it, and especially if taking into consideration some posters were completely confused about the OP.

It’s one thing coming onto a thread with >95% YABU and berating the OP for not taking it on board, but I don’t think it’s really applicable here.

Not a landslide no. I thought you were saying it wasn’t a majority.

You said this…

if they have no obvious reason to stop you may not anticipate that as a hazard until they are slowing down in front of you at which point they become an obstruction in the road.

perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying here but if someone is indicating, the person behind them should be preparing themselves to slow down or stop. It shouldn’t take until the car in-front actually slows down before they ‘anticipate’ that. It certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise when they do. There may be a ‘reason’ ahead that the second vehicle can’t see yet, or maybe not. But the second car doesn’t need to see a reason, he just needs to see the car’s indicator.

Anticipating hazards is obviously good practice, but the lack apparent ‘hazard’ (as far as the driver can see) doesn’t mean we don’t need to bother paying attention to the car in front.

The vehicles behind doesn't need to know why you are doing something. It just needs to know that you are doing it. Hence, indicators.

On a 60mph country lane in the middle of nowhere someone stopping in the middle of the road in front of you for no apparent reason is not something you would normally anticipate, so he did what he should and moved round her but it's likely he would have appreciated a bit more notice to have moved over on to the other side of the road to overtake, hence the beep.

He should not have needed more notice if he was driving at an appropriate speed and distance. My DD used to catch a bus (the size of a coach) to school, it picked up loads of kids from all over the countryside and would make frequent stops to drop kids off on the country lanes. Are you honestly suggesting that it would be fine for him to plough into the back of a coach which signalled and stopped because 'he had no time to anticipate the hazard'? And why do you keep saying in the middle of the road? She'd pulled to the side.

Oh gotcha, I was actually referring to the fact that sometimes people indicate and start to slow down in quick succession, so the first thing you may notice is them actually slowing down.

I think in your case when you are coming home, I would assume you would indicate well before you need to turn so people behind are aware that you are going to turn, I used to have to do this when I had a drive that I had to swing out to get into to make sure people clocked it before starting to move out to swing in.

I very much doubt the lorry wasn't paying attention to her, she was the only thing on the road in front of him in fairness, but he had no reason to think she was goin to stop there until she started indicating/slowing down, so didn't have as much time to react as he probably would have liked to ensure he could easily get round her (if he was approaching a parked car for instance).

Something made him give her a beep, it was either where she stopped or the manner in which she stopped, if he wasn't paying attention it would be a bit mean to beep her for that, but can't rule that out either I suppose.

Are you honestly suggesting that it would be fine for him to plough into the back of a coach which signalled and stopped because 'he had no time to anticipate the hazard'?

I'm not even dignifying that sort of stupidity with an answer, what is the point of making up such tedious nonsense.

I'm not even dignifying that sort of stupidity with an answer, what is the point of making up such tedious nonsense.

Well you seem to think it's fucking fine to not anticipate that the OP would stop. What's the difference?

There's no difference, if there isn't a line, a sign or rule forbidding it you can stop pretty much anywhere you want as is evident every single time you use a car.