To refuse to reverse?

[ManyShapesOfPasta]

Out earlier, on a street with parked cars, I was waiting for traffic in the opposite direction when the driver flashed his lights, at which point I proceeded, and then, so did he.
Of course there's then nowhere for either of us to go so he motioned at me to reverse.
Was I wrong to refuse?

You both refused to reverse.

No, I stopped briefly as I saw cars/vehicles, as soon as he flashed, I went.
Yes, I had right of way, but that doesn't mean it will be respected, and often isn't on that road, so it's common sense and ensuring safety, to pause.

Why did you give way if you had priority? This kind of dithering is dangerous. “Be predictable not polite”.

OP by stopping you caused the problem - if you had right of way and it was clear you should have continued slowly.

Forcing a campervan to drive on the pavement just to prove you were right is a bit..... odd. If you could have reversed you should have done.

Refusing to reverse is generally a bit of a dick move - HTH

it only has one single meaning in ANY situation which is to let other road users that you are there.
https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/other-stopping-procedures.html

Correct, only one of us caused the problem and endangered pedestrians though

Exactly.

Who the bloody hell would do that!!!

I swear people just disagree for the sake of it on these AIBU when it’s a driving one!

I'm not disagreeing with you that he drove badly and was in the wrong. But everyone driving a vehicle should be doing whatever is the safest option at every point.

The safest thing to do at that point is for you to reverse. Him being an idiot and you wanting to be stubborn to teach him a lesson doesn't change that.

As I said upthread, I'll read up on it tonight, and forget every road rule I've learned in 30 years.

Well, actually, no. You caused it too. It would have been much easier for you to reverse if he was in a camper van. You just didn't want to.

Are you seriously telling me you’ve never encountered a driver who flashed and at that moment, they meant proceed or thank you?
Or you have never done so yourself?

I can’t work out exactly what happened but in answer to your question knowing now that he was in a campervan, yes you were wrong to refuse. Weighing up the situation at the point of the stand off, it was clearly easier for you to reverse.
Perhaps he didn’t realise he flashed his lights and seeing you waiting he thought it was ok to proceed.

Why is he driving a campervan if he cant reverse it, and he proceeded when it was v clear I had.

In your shoes l would have also refused to reverse. It’s your right of way and he flashed you 🤷‍♀️. He needs to accept those natural consequences

The camper van factor is neither here nor there really. He probably shouldn’t have one if he can’t drive / reverse it properly.

I’m sure he can reverse it (at least I hope so). I mean it’s easier to reverse a car than a camper van, horse box, tractor, lorry etc.
Set aside who is right and wrong and just do what’s the safest and then go on your way.
I’m sure you have made a few errors on the road in your time.

Something similar happened to me, I was driving behind a car and there was only room for single file traffic. The car waiting in the opposite direction let that driver through and could see I was following with a car behind me but started driving forward so that neither of us could pass. I actually got out of my car and asked him why he had done that when he could clearly see me driving towards him. I told him he would have to reverse and he said there wasn't enough room until I told him the space was big enough to reverse a bus into.

That is the official meaning but we all know drivers flash their headlights to either say thank you or to indicate to people they can go first.

I agree, right of way won't always be respected. Sounds like you made a call based on how you read the situation at the time

Yes, YABU to refuse to reverse, in the situation that you have described. You put others at risk and don’t know the Highway Code.

A very similar thing happened to us a week or so ago. In a street with parked cars, the car coming the other way had right of way. We stopped. The other car stopped. We waited. The other car waited. We flashed our lights meaning "come on, you have right of way". the other car didn't move. We flashed our lights again. The other car didn't move. Eventually we gave up and started moving at which point the other car also decided to move and the driver got arsy when there was nowhere for it to go.

Yes, the other driver was strictly in the right, but they'd held up traffic due to their dithering and we'd only moved due to getting fed up of waiting so we did feel the onus was on them to reverse back again.

@OnlyMabelInTheBuilding do you actually mean that, or are you just trying to disagree with OP? Because in my 40 years of driving experience, in a “who goes first” situation, flashing lights has always meant “you go first”. Always.

I have also refused to reverse. when going through a road narrowing designed for traffic calming, and the signs clearly indicated I had priority. (I don't like these narrowings, as they seem to create unnecessary delay and obstruction, and I try to follow the speed limits myself, but that's a different issue).

The other (male)driver proceeded towards me very fast, so that I had to do an emergency stop to avoid an accident. He eventually also stopped and indicated for me to move back and I pointed to the sign and refused. Huh.

I’m in Ireland in a touristy area and this happens a lot as our roads are narrow and twisty in places (a bit like Cornwall).

If it’s obviously a couple of tourists or a lorry driver that’s followed the satnav instead if using common sense, I tend to just start reversing, especially if the road has a few slight bends in it. 😂

Yes, you. By stopping when you had the right of way you caused confusion. You then compounded it by making a camper van reverse, when you were in a mini!

Oh well if you'd stopped and waited he obviously thought you were letting him go so flashed thanks and proceeded. At which point you also moved forward then refused to reverse

When people refuse to reverse I always feel they have shite driving skills and are scared to lol