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??)

I’ve said exactly the same thing both times. 20mph whilst on the single track lane.

I’ve already said that the passing points would’ve provided the lorry with much less room.

Can’t believe this is still going 🤣

I’m going to treat it as a drinking game:
60mph - one shot
Dual carriageway - two shots (naturally)
Residential parking - three shots
Highway Code - down the bottle

Predict I’ll be twatted by 5pm.

If you made the lorry overtake you on the other side if the road of course you were in the wrong. You don't just stop in the road even if you indicate first.
Do you have any idea of what would happen to your car if another vehicle hit you from behind?

Plus people always underestimate how much time and space lorries need to manoeuvre

People generally don't drive into the back of stationary vehicles. OP pulled over in a safe place (good visibility).
How else can someone overtake on single carriage way without going on the other side?

Pulling over, stopping, overtaking are all perfectly regular driving events.

I can't believe how many posters never stop or park their car unless in a designated parking space or layby. Presumably they never visit friends, stop outside shops and all have private drives and garages.

I'd assumed they just were not familiar with how to navigate rural roads but apparently none of them have ever visited suburbia or small towns either.

Don’t be silly.

yes they are but you need to take more care when driving in front of a lorry - becuase it isn’t the same as a car.

we have no idea how the OP drove this all came about because the OP was annoyed that the lorry driver beeped his horn.

so it is why he beeped. Either as an acknowledgment or because he was saying yes I have managed to get past you but you were lucky next time if you do this in front of a lorry make sure you give a little bit more notice/allowance for the fact I am a lorry and not a car

So you should never stop whilst any large vehicle is behind you? If Tesco is delivering their stock and I want to park outside my house, I must drive past my house until I lose the Tesco vehicle?

OP: have I done anything wrong?

Everyone: yes

OP: 184 replies arguing I'm right

Everyone: eye roll

OP: have I done anything wrong?

Many people that don't understand the situation: yes

Many people that do understand the situation: no, not legally, perhaps inadvisable, but not anything actually wrong

OP: 184 replies arguing I'm right

Many people that don't understand the situation: eye roll

Many people that do understand the situation: bashes head against brick wall, along with OP

Corrected that for you...

OP: Did I do anything wrong in indicating and pulling over on a country lane which had just gone from a single track lane to two lanes?

The hard of reading: You shouldn’t stop on a dual carriageway

The hard of comprehending: You shouldn’t cause a lorry to emergency stop and risk a lorry overturning

The hard of driving: You must not stop on a moving road

Notable mentions to those who advised not parking on a motorway.

Then the capable few who’ve said they understand and it wasn’t wise, or they understand and it was fine.

Don't they? But is it worth the risk just to pick up something from the floor that could wait till it was safe to pull over?

I think wrong could be interpreted to mean inadvisable and not simply illegal @DazzlingCuckoos 🤔

My husband is a lorry driver. Do you want to know the mess that is left after one has gone into the back of a stationary vehicle? It's not pretty.

This is such a non issue. Chances are the lorry driver was thanking you for pulling over as you were going so slowly or letting you know they were there. You have assumed they are angry.

Yep, I drive a lot due to family in the north and south, and I have 20+ years no accident claims because I treat every other driver and every pedestrian / cyclist like an idiot and I treat 10-tonne machines that can flatten me with caution.

If OP were 100% comfortable that her manoeuvre was safe, she wouldn’t have posted here.

Remember that lorries cant break as efficiently as a car

Hopefully it had sufficient stopping distance

Im sure they wouldn't have beeped for nothing

Well there is large and there is large - I have kind of being assuming it is a freight/haulage lorry which is very different from a Tesco delivery truck.

Tesco delivery truck is pretty much the same as a car in terms of stopping distance and moving

I don’t understand how the satnav is relevant? What did you do when it fell off that you wouldn’t have done anyway?

YABU 100%

@Boskit No, my guess is that @QuestionableMouse is merely a decent person.

Have you actually read the thread? Clearly not.

Why, how often has your husband driven into the back of stationary vehicles? I hope it’s not too regular an occurrence for him.