Can I drive 5 miles to walk in the woods?

[R2221]

Just that really. We’ve been isolating for over a week and these woods are the only thing that kept us sane. Isolated woods - not many people there. Those we came across were mindful of distance.

With the current lockdown rules, are we allowed to drive there?

@Falacy Gov guidance updated to include coparenting. See footnote www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others

Metoyoutoo Tue 24-Mar-20 05:18:40
By the end of the week, all exercise will be banned including dog walking because of the selfish people going for a drive for their daily walk.
.....
Nonsense. There's nothing wrong with driving somewhere a bit out of your area to have a walk in pleasant surroundings where there aren't many people about. It sounds sensible to me. What harm can it do as long as you don't mix with other people?

Because everyone will think that and there will be the same scene we had at the weekend.
Boris clearly said that you can a daily walk but keep the time you’re outside to a minimum. Going for a drive for a walk in the woods is not that

Of course you can’t drive to get to a woodland, beach, etc. It’s non essential travel. People ignoring this is why it took hold in Italy, and now they are not allowed out for any form of exercise. BJ should have said no going out for exercise, because people just take the piss.

People in France interpreted the rules like this so they had to clarify the rules. Exercise to be no more than 1km from your home and for less than 1 hour once a day.

Locals near woods( they don’t own) 2/5 miles away use exactly the same schools and hospitals. No food production going on in woods. Pretty sure many 2 miles away won’t be sticking to the very basic corner shops but will do the reverse journey to supermarkets in order to make less journeys.

People have been asked to avoid gatherings which will be the same for everything. It will be pretty obvious if there are hoards of people. Op will use her common sense and turn round same as if she was walking in her street.

It's only 3 weeks, if we all follow it. Keep flouting it and thinking you are special, it will be extended. Plus the body count will rise and rise and rise.

Stay home!

I just took a look on the Heathrow arrivals for today and even though a few flights have been cancelled there’s around 20+ flights landing every hour and that’s just Heathrow.

Those flight info boards and sites like flight radar don't tell the whole story..they are not showing you what aircraft are carrying.

Passenger numbers into the UK are massively down...that means aircraft ( and I mean passenger one's such as 777s and 747s, even the one's arriving at Heathrow)) can carry much more freight than they usually do .. essential stuff like medical supplies, medical equipment, drugs. all cargo the UK really needs. ..and that is why airline staff, even at traditional passenger airlines, are on the list of essential staff.

As for the shown people arriving in the image, Brits are still being repatriated, essential workers such as expert medical staff from abroad are still required..I bet some of them are highly delighted at entering a country where Border Control displays is such a casual approach to social distancing and nobody seems to understand what "stay at home" means.

No the exercise is meant to be local. It is not essential for anyone to drive to exercise. Can you walk from home to somewhere a bit quieter? And you are only meant be in your car locally to get food, or go to chemist or go to work. Restrictions will only get harsher if we are not sensible. Eg 50 metres around home only.

I've just read the government guidance document. There are only 4 reasons you can leave your home. Going for a drive isn't one of them. A drive isn't exercise. You need to walk your dog from home.

The Police may eventually stop vehicles to check the journey is essential. Your journey to a wood is not essential. If you knew there was a mass murderer roaming freely outside you would not go out. This is a National Emergency. Unprecedented since WW2. Stay at home & walk round the block. This is for other people’s safety not just yours.

I m actually feeling quite angry towards people like the op right now. Selfish f**

It’s clear

All travel on roads, trains and buses was also banned unless it’s essential to get to work.

There are 800 dwellings on my street (flats etc). There are four identical streets like this in a block. If I walked round the block a few times for my exercise, that would involve a lot more exposure than getting into my car and driving to an empty bit of woodland.

We too have gorgeous woods and hills about 20 mins drive from us which we go to a couple of times midweek usually, because at weekends it’s heaving.
OP Boris has laid it down quite clearly. We definitely won’t be driving to the woods. It can be quite hilly in parts and is quite remote. Also, even if we didn’t see a soul, what if we got into difficulty and needed one of the emergency services!? What, just for a walk!?

We are going to get up really early and go for a brisk walk, jog, straight from our house a few times a week and other than that we have a bit of gym stuff at home so we can use that.

He’s not asking the earth and maybe now the absolute prize tools that were all out this last weekend will actually sit up and listen!!

I love everyone shouting about how the poor OP is so stupid she can’t understand the rules etc.

I live in a city the pavements are slightly over 1m wide. There are hundreds of houses and thousands of people in very close proximity. I could take my children for a walk to the beach, but this is unlikely to be possible while maintaining 2 metres from everyone.

Obviously caution should be applied (as many people didn’t this weekend), but open spaces are the more socially responsible exercise option.

Stop shouting ‘common sense’ and then showing none!

Yes, people will probably flout it and, yes, we’ll probably end up more locked down, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be safer.

IT'S THE CAR JOURNEY THAT IS THE PROBLEM AND RISK OF HAVING A ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ON A RURAL ROAD.

What about the risk of you or your kids getting hit by a car walking round an estate? This thread has lost all common sense. I have been walking ing the woods all my life and never had a serious accident. My children have actually had 2 accidents walking through local park that required an a&e trip. A friends dd was hit by some silly kid on his bike in her local park. Less people =less chance of accidents and virus spread. As long as you are not driving silly distances to get there. We are rural and I’d bet the roads will be as normal this morning as everyone needs a car to get to work/shops. No one will be out questioning everyone out on a 5 min drive.

Woods where I live are closer than the shop. I shall continue to walk my dog in the woods. Even on a sunny day after months of rain I'll maybe see two people.
If I lived in a city my footprint would be smaller and I'd probably not even have a dog but I live in a Forest and have soothing green dog safe space five minutes drive away.

I have 3 teens to exercise. One marches ahead and the other trails. The 5 of us on a pavement in a busy area are more likely to induce contact than a walk in a deserted area a short distance away. If said area is not safe we come home, simple.

It's people like you peapod who risk the rules being changed so that we're not allowed to go out and exercise at all. I'm just pleased that we're allowed to go out for a daily walk. If it has to be from home rather than in the woods that's ok. Better than in Spain where people can't go out for any form of exercise

Well it’s either three weeks and we do as told or let this drag on for months because people can’t give up driving in their cars and doing as they please.
It’s this mentality that’s caused the lockdown.
How thick are some people.
Ffs suck it up for 3 weeks, go for a walk locally.

It's a walk round the fucking block!!!! That's it!!! If its busy, go back home. You are only allowed to drive to buy food or essential work. Even if this isn't explicitly stated, you know in your sensible head that this is what you should be doing.

That’s rubbish. I haven’t seen another person outside my family And a delivery driver for about 2 weeks now as we are responsibly socially distancing. Thanks. We actually have a high risk person in our home. But guess what? We have been doing a 5 min drive to some deserted woods. I can guarantee if we’d walked round the local park we would probably not have been social distancing because it’s been crowded. As I said, common sense.

No, sameold. Parks are being kept open specifically for exercise. It's not a walk round the fucking block.

Parks are being kept open because if you live near one it's a good open space to use. You're not meant to drive there. It's a non essential journey.