Was I BU to call 101

[NC6745]

I was going back to my car in a shopping centre car park and walked past a man in the driver’s seat smoking a joint. His partner (I guess) was loading a pram in their boot and there were happy meals on the roof so I made the assumption that there were kids in the car. He then drove away. I called 101 with their reg.

I obviously won’t ever know the outcome but was I U for reporting them? If he wasn’t driving kids I don’t know if I would have had the guts. Am I also U for feeling a bit guilty if the police did act on it? I’m guessing he would loose his licence?

Better safe than sorry! I think you did the right thing

I don't believe for one second you thought you were being unreasonable.

If you want everyone to say well done, then why not just say that and we can all get on with it?

Genuinely well done though (and I do mean that).

But what's with the wide-eyed 'AIBU'?

You did the right thing. Cannabis can really slow reaction times. The passive smoking for the children is also concerning. If he loses his licence that's nothing to feel bad about, it could save a life by preventing an accident caused by a drugged driver.

You did the right thing. Well done

Tbh I was expecting to be flamed and told to mind my own.

Right

I think 95% of AIBU is wide eyed “AIBU”. This one, if anything, less so.

So you just posted because you fancied a bit of flagellation of a Saturday night?

I don’t think you’re unreasonable as I’m strongly in the camp better safe than sorry and I care about little children.
However I was amazed that you knew what he was smoking - I would have no idea especially from the distance.

Nah I'd say this one is bang on the 'wide-eyed' average.

Either way, all the OP needed to do was start a thread in chat if she wanted to discuss it.

There is no 'AIBU' about it.

I'm guessing she could smell it if she walked past the car, it's quite a distinctive smell.

Not directly. I’ve been feeling (maybe unreasonably) guilty about it - what if he’s the only one that drives, what if it makes it complicated for her as she’s dependent on him. Suppose she could have told him not to in the first place

I had to walk past the car directly and the smell was really strong + the smoke came directly from his door

Their problem not yours.

Why does it matter if they had kids in their car or not? Either he's safe to be driving on OUR roads or he's not💁🏻‍♀️

@NC6745@MirrorMirror1247
Thank you, I was genuinely curious.
I would of course notice that there was a smell but I would never connect it to cannabis or anything similar. I have no experience at all (not that I’m complaining 🤣) I’ve asked DH and he’s the same.
We both clearly lived sheltered life.

Ah no, London here. It’s a pretty normal thing around here. Probably another reason I thought I’d be unreasonable as it’s not really scrutinised in public around here.

Isn’t just about every AIBU ‘wide-eyed’ then as the majority clearly wouldn’t post if they genuinely believed they were BU and expecting a flagging. I can see why OP is torn here, when you take into account any possible repercussions on the whole family unit of them reporting his actions, and simply looking for an outside perspective.

I've done similar recently and don't feel a single bit guilty about it. There were no kids in the car though that I could see but the scummy cunt was using public roads where he could cause god only knows what kind of damage to any other road users. I hope the call was acted on and that he was caught in both cases.

They seemed pretty on it on the phone, got up the car details quickly, spoke about possible routes he could have taken and mentioned cameras on the A roads. Either they take it seriously, or maybe something else flagged on him. Guess I’ll never know

That sounds positive, hope they got him.

I don't really understand why you couldn't see whether there were children in the car, as you seem to have had a long time to observe them?

I didn’t exactly go right up to them. I walked past to my own car, looked at the man smoking then watched a woman folding away a double pram + 2 happy meals on the roof as I was loading
my own car - those were enough of a giveaway - I didn’t feel the need to stop and take a good look (and probably get in to a back and forth for obviously staring)

In Scotland it’s illegal to smoke with kids in the car and can be reported. never mind without it being a drug.

It is in England too.

How long do you think it would take to realise someone is smoking a joint? Literally a second or 2! Also a lot of cars have tinted back windows and or kids window blinds on the back, they also tend to be smaller than adults so harder to spot 😂 I think the fact that the woman was folding a pram is also a bit of a giveaway 🤔