Was I out of order for driving into the petrol pump in front rather than waiting?

[HappyPinkHare]

AITA? Just want to get everyone’s opinions on petrol forecourt / station etiquette in the uk. Two petrol pumps are placed one in front of the other, in single lanes, so if someone is in front of you refuelling, you can’t drive past them (you either have to wait or reverse). When I drove into the forecourt, a black car was in pump 1, still filling up and pump 2 (in front of them was free). So I drove up the other lanes and reversed in front of them into pump 2. I got out, opened my petrol cap, paid using my credit card a pin and lifted the nozzle. At that point, the lady came out of her car aggressively and told me to move out of the way so they could drive off the forecourt as they were in a hurry. If I was still in my car, I probably would have moved, but as I was already about to refuel, I asked why she didn’t reverse and go down the other lanes. It basically got out of hand and she was knocking the hose in my hand to stop me from refuelling and screaming saying “are you going to pour petrol on me?” Anyway, after lots of swearing and aggression (from both husband and wife) and me passively refusing to move, they ended up reversing (just one car length by the way) and leaving via the route I had suggested originally. It got me thinking that what I did (reverse into pump 2) was maybe wrong because why were they so angry, was i out of order?

I always feel very smug when people sit queueing and I pull up and stretch the hose round whilst they wait. No idea why more people don't do it!

Eh? They did reverse back - they were pissed off that they had to because OP drove past two free pumps in order to get to the one in front of them, blocking the exit for them. They had to reverse out to get out.

There’s no denying they were unhinged but OP’s behaviour in the first instance was really odd and quite entitled.

Wow they are crazy ! I do that all the time and expect other to do the same if needs be

It was sure pump on her side ?? Not all hoses extend to reach both sides

They had to have a battle before reversing back. They reluctantly reversed after they realised they couldn't bully and intimidate the op. There are a lot of drivers on our roads who shouldn't be driving because they are bad drivers. Good drivers don't get into any arguments because they value their licence. I stand by what the op did she done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be intimidated. They felt forced to reverse and didn't feel comfortable or else they would have drove off like normal people and not start a war.

OP caused a scene instead of using one of the empty pumps that they drove past

Hoses are designed to reach a filler cap on the other side of the car but most people don’t have the confidence to do this

I always do this whilst others are sat looking like idiots

well if it's so busy then "of course there's a high chance" someone would have driven up behind them so they couldn't reverse, so OP shouldn't have blocked them in assuming they'd be able to exit that way.

See how it works both ways?

Not to mention the fact that if you actually bother to read OP's posts, she (you know, the person who was actually there, rather than making random assumptions based on what it's like in their completely different area with a completely different layout at a completely different time) specifically said it was "pretty much empty."

Clearly reading comprehension isn't your strength but if you take your time and pause to sound out the big words, you can see I didn't say they didn't expect anyone to use the petrol station at the same time as them at all. Chances are someone might. What they didn't know (and can't be expected to anticipate) is that someone will arrive after them and decide they want to use the exact pump in front of them right now, rather than a) waiting b) using any of the other 6 on the court, like a normal person would.

I don’t think it’s a massive issue OP and they over-reacted.

The Petrol station near me has 3 pumps per lane so there is always a lot of reversing in and out, as otherwise it’s impossible for everyone to fit in, and also the queues would be silly if everyone had to wait for the car in front to finish. If there is a free pump, people just go for it. Although it’s not single lane as there is a gap in the middle to drive out - but to get in to the middle pump you usually have to drive down, then reverse in. And the car at the pump furthest away from the shop has to reverse back a bit to be able to get out - if they had to wait for the other two cars in front to finish, it would take ages.

Any cars waiting in the forecourt to get to a pump stay back a bit to allow those in front to get out as there’s usually a bit of reversing / pulling round other cars.

Also for those saying reversing out of the pump could cause a crash - nobody should be driving into a petrol station at speed. It’s an area with pedestrians and cars, you should be driving slowly and carefully. Also you can tell if a car is reversing by their lights.

Exactly this, they’re all bloody bonkers, talking about reversing into cars and the cars not expecting someone to be reversing, you’re always told to expect the unexpected so if you’re not aware enough to clearly see a car reversing as you’re pulling in to a fuel station then stay the hell pff the road, you can just tell these are the type of muppets who hog the right lane on motorways, drive excessively under the limit and give zero shits about anyone else on the road because after years of driving, they’re still incapable useless idiots on the road with piss all confidence behind the wheel 🙄

OP didn’t cause a scene, the nutter who started whacking her while holding a petrol pump caused the scene. OP was just going about her day.

She didn’t force them to wait. They could easily have done the same as her if they were desperate to get out.

I actually watch and laugh at how stupid people look thinking they’re dead clever pulling the pump across their car but are struggling to do it, it’s not something that glides out and in without a bit of pulling and tugging, so no, YOU are the one looking like an idiot who can’t manage to reverse your fuel side nearest to the pump 😂

The picture you used is not doing you any favours proving your point, it done the opposite, there’s PLENTY of opportunity to see a car reversing of visa versa there while pulling in, also I wish people would quit with the “not expecting” bullshit, if you’re behind a wheel of a car you SHOULD be expecting cars to be moving front back sideways or whatever the hell else, just like if you pull into a fuel station you should be expecting a child to run across the court, because you never know what you could be faced with, why wouldn’t you be aware of your surroundings while pulling into a fuel station? Very incompetent drivers in this thread!!! And it’s always those type of people who cause the accidents and blame the confident drivers who are hyper vigilant and can manage to go the speed limit without shitting themselves and causing tailbacks 😂

If there is a gap for the car in the back pump to pass the car in the front pump, there is in my local garage as it has three cars width between pumps, then its fine to do what you did..

but it seems like you blocked them in as you couldnt be bothered to wait. Which would be annoying, as they were finishing as you started filling up. You could have just waited a minute more.
So I think you were unreasonable as you knew you would block them in by doing what you did. You just didnt want to wait, but fully knew they would have to wait for you or start reversing around a petrol station the wrong way which you forced them to do by not moving. YTA.

I only take driving commentary from people who can spell and use punctuation, sorry.

I must admit I wouldn't be expecting a "sideways moving car" at a petrol station or anywhere. How does that work? Does it hop horizontally?

Their reaction was nuts. The other day I was at the gym and a car blocked me into a space. If I had acted like a nutter like these guys, I would have barged into the gym demanding that the dipshit outside come and move their car. Instead I took a good look around and found a narrow way to reverse and escape without upsetting anyone. They had a solution, but they chose to be knobs.

Fine to do if the lane is wide enough for a car to get past you without going into another pump lane (some are) but not OK if you’ve now blocked someone in. If the other lanes fill up or someone queues behind them then they wouldn’t be able to reverse and go round you. So yes YABU and can understand why they were annoyed but knocking pumps out of your hand is aggressive behaviour and unacceptable.

If there were free pumps you could have used, it probably came across a bit antagonising. Similar to when a car parks right next to yours in an empty car park.

I voted YANBU, but having read this YABVVU.

It’s not dangerous. They specifically state the hoses are long enough for the purpose 🙄

another time i went in a different way thinking i could come straight out but the car refused to move, the man indicated there was no space, so i had to reverse back onto the road, the way i came in,
no fuel was spilt, and there was no anger shown on this occasion

I only do this if there’s enough room between cars for them to go round me to get out. In your situation I would have gone to the pump on the other side and stretched the hose.

So I do think you were in the wrong but I don’t think it merited their reaction. They were way over the top.

The woman sounds insane to try and knock the hose out of your hands - whatever you did shouldn’t have prompted this sort of behaviour.

I didn’t think you were being TA but I think you have probably breached forecourt etiquette by driving in through the exit and then inconveniencing someone else. Put your big girl pants on and learn to refuel from both sides! 🤪

I used to think this too.

Until I visited a town and found that every time I attempted this that the hose did not in fact reach. In a couple of stations there they didn't extend at all.

But not all are long enough. The ones at the big Tesco here are. The ones at the small Esso garage are just regular hoses.