For anyone thinking of driving somewhere for exercsie

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

I think this answers your question.

We saw a car being stopped late in the evening. Anyone else been stopped and checked by the police?

Bravo to Avon and Somerset Police. I hope other forces are as vigilant.

To be fair, the advice hasn't been clear and a government guy (I'll find his name) gave a BBC interview saying if your home address area has more people around, it made sense to drive a distance and take exercise where you'll see no one at all.

I havent been stopped. Though I have only been out in the car once, to get everything I needed to work from home.

However, annoyingly our key work people on the ground are being stopped in high numbers. Despite having what we do (which is is definitely key work. NHS buildings are not insured without us going out) on the side of the Vans. It appears that often the police arent sure which services are key workers. Luckily they all have confirmation of being key workers and a PDA to prove where they are going.

I do hope the general public are being stopped as often as our staff, out doing a job to support the NHS.

Its only right that they are stopped. Let's be honest, driving to a nice place to have a walk, isnt essential.

I drive to the park at 5:45am to walk my dog in a large enclosed park and I'll keep doing so unless stopped. There's only me in my car (with the dog) so no risk of infecting anyone. How is it any different from driving to the shop for essentials or driving to work?

@HopeYouStepOnLego be careful as in my area I would see a couple of police cars at that time waiting around.

Lots of park car parks have closed.

I don’t think that there is a simple answer to this and it depends where you live. If you live in a dense urban area, it can well be safer to drive somewhere close ish but large to exercise. The alternative is a large population walking and running (I do think heavy breathing runners expel a lot of aerosol quite a distance compared to walkers) on a limited area of narrow pavements. It is very hard to keep 2m apart.

I think closing car parks is good though as there was a huge concentration of people getting in and out of cars right next to one another.

And in case anyone is wondering, I have a weak bladder and suffer frequent IBS flare ups so can't walk far from home. By driving to the park I'm always a few mins from my car to get home quickly.

I have a weak bladder and suffer frequent IBS flare ups so can't walk far from home. By driving to the park I'm always a few mins from my car to get home quickly.

But presumably that means you also can’t walk far from your car in case you have a flare-up, then you have the drive home on top of that? I can’t see how this is better than not being able to walk far from your home?

Ahh I definitely understand wanting to drive everywhere with IBS! 😅

I think the main concern is if you break down and need someone to come out and get you back on the road. Although breaking down on the way to the supermarket and work seems to be accepted because the Gov classes that as “essential”

And what risk exactly do you think there is in driving to a remote location for a walk?

This completely contradicts the advice that came from parliament not two days ago where it was recommended that, if you live near a remote area, it’s wise to drive there for your exercise.

@FamilyOfAliens this is me personally but I would rather shit myself in my car on the way home as opposed to walking home where other people can see me 😂

Not happened yet but it will get me one day!!!

HopeYouStepOnALego the issue is not about an individual's risk or threat, it's about implementing strict rules that apply to everyone to ensure maximum impact.

For example, a person who has recovered from the virus can't ignore the rules even though they could argue they pose negligible risk to the population.

It would be impossible to monitor. So it has to be a blanket rule, rigidly applied.

The risk is more cars on the road and an increased likelihood of accidents putting a burden on our NHS

I live in a built up area and I want to drive to the park to walk the dog - but I won't because of the above

That's a pretty tiny risk then, isn't it... most accidents happen in the home

And yes it does contradict previous advice because we are not operating in a world of logic

Agree with radiorodeo. We don't need to and aren't driving anywhere but can't see how driving to a more isolated space isn't safer than walking in a congested one. Would rather they were clamping down on the f'ers using public transport who aren't key workers. 😡

I agree with the OP who said it's to do with the more cars there are on the roads, the more risk there is of vehicle accidents, putting even more pressure on the NHS at a time when we are supposed to be lightening their load.

The advice has been so wishy washy it's no wonder that nobody is sure what to do.
There are risks involved with driving to another area to exercise, even if you don't encounter another person. Using benches, gates, stiles etc that other people have recently used (or will use after you) does pose a risk for example. I'm sure some people will say that their intended location poses absolutely no risks in this regard, but the authorities do not have time to listen to everyone's individual circumstances and make a judgement, and it's clear that the general public en masse cannot behave like grown ups and be trusted. Driving your car unnecessarily risks using up resources that are stretched beyond any limit anybody anticipated, should you have an accident. Things really are that critical.

I suppose this could be location-specific. Popular hiking spots/nature reserves with large car parks are maybe going to be monitored in case large numbers of people travel there. Smaller places/remote public footpaths etc won't be.

Surely if everyone chooses a nearby beauty spot/great dog walking route then everyone will accidentally congregate there? Isn’t that essentially what happened at the weekend on beaches and Snowdonia? I have to admit, before lockdown I did think, “Ooo, a walk up (nearby large landmark with lots of walks) would be nice, it’ll be easy to be socially distant there.” But if everyone in the area has the same thought it’ll be rammed.

If we all just actually stay at home it won’t be an issue.

The risk is not limited to the individual act, though is it? The risk is cumulative. OP sees no problem with her non essential journey, another person sees no risk in visiting his partner, a 3rd sees no risk in visiting their isolated parent ......And that all adds up to a much more significant risk for services that would have to deal with the consequences. They won't give a shit how tiny the person's individual risk was.

I've taken a snapshot of that and will send it to my dad.

Someone has just shared that same post on our community page and said it comes from New Zealand.....?!

There aren’t any official rules about not driving somewhere to exercise at the moment. We are not because we are lucky enough to live rurally but personally I would rather people drive a short distance to somewhere quiet to walk rather than clog up the local village - social distancing is the most important thing. Where we live we all have to drive 20-30 mins to the supermarket. People are still having to use their cars. I get the whole argument about emergency services being stretched if there’s a crash etc but there’s also the argument for keeping social distance - if people who can drive do drive to somewhere quiet, then those who can’t drive can enjoy a quieter, safer walk.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/875786/Full_guidance_on_staying_at_home_and_away_from_others_-200324__1.pdf

From the photos coming up on local groups, the places being driven to end up ridiculously crowded anyway :( far busier than they usually are