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?

Driving 5 miles to have a walk is an unnecessary journey, why is that so hard to understand. Chances are you will be stopped on one of these trips during the coming weeks, the police won’t see your trip as essential and you will be fined. Walk locally during quiet times, The weather is beautiful at the moment, there’s nothing stopping you taking your kids out for a walk at 7am.

Non essential travel is banned. This means you can't go for a fucking drive to a lovely place for a walk. FFS what is wrong with people.

I meant what ever is on your doorstep, not a drive away. We have no park in walking distance, so for us it's just a walk round the fucking block. It's shit, but we'll adjust to it. We have woods a 5 minute drive away. To go there would be taking the piss.

So many people will deliberately interpret what's been said to suit their own wants. Ideally the daily exercise would be a walk round the garden, or round the block.

Karma is going to get you.
£10,0000 fine and a judge who says, you should have stayed at home.

So many people will deliberately interpret what's been said to suit their own wants

Of course. Because everyone is special and an exception. So then we will all have the privilege of being able to leave the house for exercise taken away. My money is on no leaving the house for exercise by the end of the week due to excessive numbers of fuckwits in the country.

Local spaces for local people - don’t get in your car and drive 5 miles (the environment will thank you too). If lots of stupid people do that we could end up with a mini version of last weekend.

Seriously we need some rain. Worldwide deadly virus doesn't seem enough to keep people indoors. FFS

Boris meant a walk round the block once a day

Then he should have said that.

One of the most frustrating things about this has been the appalling management of comms. "Don't go out but you can really" has been a disastrous message to issue.

If you are going to instruct people to take a radical change in behaviour then you need to give clear examples of what good and bad look like because "obvious" is different for everyone.

My colleagues in other European countries have had much more specific and clear guidelines as well as earlier shut down of non essential shops. It really helps to have clarity in a crisis.

I feel very sorry for families with children at home and no garden or in overcrowded accommodation. Ideally I'd like them to be prioritised in some way for the "exercise" outings.

Tricky. There is no clear guidance on this.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others

I think you need to balance the lower likelihood of spreading the virus by doing your outdoor activity in a deserted area against the increased likelihood of being involved in a car accident and putting pressure on the nhs.

But it's still no essential journeys...

Tricky. There is no clear guidance on this.
It’s not tricky. The guidance has been clearly for days already. No non essential travel. There is nothing to think about, nothing to balance in your head. You do not get in your car and go anywhere unless it is essential. If you cannot get to your isolated beach, woodland, park, then don’t go.

I’ll just leave this here for anyone who thinks they are a special case for walking Fido more than once a day (and I have a dog too)- get a sense of social responsibility if not I sincerely hope your conscience catches up with you in the months/years to come.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=oZFZhMpuNzk

Funny how people think these isolated places will remain isolated. Do you not think everyone in the local proximity will have the same idea, or maybe you think it'll remain isolated because we've been told to stay at home ...... but that doesn't include me because I'm special!
I can walk to my local woods in a few minutes but I'm going to stick to my garden because I know they'll be heaving with people.

Of course. Because everyone is special and an exception.

I don't think I am special or the exception.

We were told we can exercise once a day. I believe that walking in my area is more risky than walking in the woods which is just under 5 miles away. I know my area, I know I am much less likely to see anyone in the woods. It's not a popular area to go to, if people want to drive to find somewhere nice to walk there are many nicer places they can drive to. If there are lots of cars around I would go home.

It is much easier to keep distance from anyone I happen to see in the woods than it is on my street. I will see more children around my block than I would if I drive that just under 5 miles.

I didn't come to the decision because I think I am special, or because I prefer walking in the shitty woods. It's because I genuinely believe these actions would reduce risk.

Anyway, I will hold off and see if any further guidance is forthcoming.

We haven't been told to dash quickly around the block wherever we are and be back in 20 minutes. Some people can't do that. EVERYONE can do that. I live in Spain and 47 million of us have been doing a fuck less than that for 10 days now. You just don't want to.

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.

Yep. This is what has happened in France. People took the piss.

Now cycling for leisure is forbidden and you can exercise once a day but that has to be on your own and you must remain within 1km of your house.

I usually drive to a little lake for a run. It's about 4kms away. I never, ever see another soul.....but I can't do that now because of the hard of thinking who feel that none of the rules apply to them.

You can take the dog out for a pee/poo but that's it.

Our forms are being revised to include the time you left the house so there can be no fudging about how long you have been out.

Don't go out does not, in any language, translate in to carry on going out.

Some people can't do that

Yes they can, they just don’t want to.

I don't think I am special or the exception.
You do think that.
It's because I genuinely believe these actions would reduce risk.
It’s irrelevant what you believe, genuinely or not. Your brain is not special or an exemption to the rules.

*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.

...

I usually drive to a little lake for a run. It's about 4kms away. I never, ever see another soul.....but I can't do that now because of the hard of thinking who feel that none of the rules apply to them.*

That makes no sense. You are literaly complaining you cannot do the thing the OP wants to do (take a short drive to do some exercise) and then blaming people who do that thing (taking a short drive to do some exercise) for the fact that you can no longer do the thing you want (take a short drive to do some exercise).

U2 we don't need further guidance. We've been told we can only leave home for 4 reasons. Exercise means putting your trainers, coat on whatever, going out of your front door and going for a run, jog, walk, cycle as you prefer then coming back home.

It does not include getting in the car to drive to your place of choice.

I despair of the fact that we might not be able to go for our daily walks because of people wilfully misinterpreting the instructions.

It’s irrelevant what you believe, genuinely or not. Your brain is not special or an exemption to the rules.

You should only leave the house for one of four reasons:

Shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine.

One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.

Like I said, I will hold off for the time being, but there are no current rules that says you can't drive to a place to exercise. I will wait for further guidance however.

This idea that suddenly you can't all cope without exercising, I bet half of you didn't before this happened. How do you think people are managing in Spain? Millions live in flats, we can't even go for a walk round the block. My kids haven't left the house since Friday 13th.

I feel very sorry for those who live in flats or cities. It must be awful. But that doesn't mean I should stop using my outside space in a misguided attempt at solidarity.

Birdandsparrow that must be difficult, especially with children who have so much energy to burn off. I'm not taking our freedom to go for a walk for granted; at the moment it feels like a privilege.

I hope that things begin to improve soon in Spain.