Where is the risk in going out for country walks?

[OatMilkAddict]

I've been very careful to limit social interaction (apart from food shopping once per week for me and elderly family members isolating elsewhere), but I have been out walking for an hour or two most days since lockdown.
I head on foot to secluded woods and fields where I only rarely see people (and give them a wide berth if I do). I don't touch a thing while I'm out, nor sit down or brush against anything. As soon as I get home, I remove my shoes and wash my hands, phone and keys.
Without being goady, I am curious to hear from the most vehement "stay at home" advocates precisely how my daily walk is going to get me (or anyone else) sick, because I literally don't understand where the risk is!

Completely deserted here. Maybe two walkers on the opposite side of a 10 acre field yesterday.

I bewildered at where everyone is that it's so packed. I'm in London and it's perfectly possible to go for a walk through the streets and just step away from people when passing. It's not that busy.

Where is the risk in going out for country walks?

For me it’s all my toilet stops being closed. Today I peed behind a tree.

Sorry if this has been said, I haven't RTFT. I noticed today black bin bags have been pegged up near the doggy bins, presumably as you have to open those with your hand.

Youre allowed to go for a walk in your area. The issue is with beauty spots where the world and his wife will go and driving there poses the risk of accidents, putting more of a strain on the NHS

If anything, this debate across multiple threads is highlighting just how little understanding of rural life is out there. Approximately 20% of the UK population lives in a rural setting. The reality is that most of those people have direct access to wide open spaces with hardly anyone in it.

I think sometimes those numbers are not appreciated and people think that only a tiny minority of people live rurally.

There’s no law against driving to exercise - for some people driving to exercise locally probably would involve driving, for many of us it wouldn’t.

I think there probably is a law that covers that now, because driving to exercise is not essential

I know the police have stopped cars from doing this where I live. Made them turn back and maybe issued a fine.

The law - if anyone wants to read it - is here

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/350/pdfs/uksi_20200350_en.pdf

There isn’t a law, no. Some police forces appear to be making up their own which is not helpful in the wider situation and is beyond their powers to do.

Current guidance says you must minimise the time you are away from home, as well so big long walks are probably a no no.

Driving to somewhere rural to do your exercise is non essential and all exercise should be done locally, so if that means you have to do your once a day exercise round the block or round your local park, then that's what you do. The advice is so generalised because they're going people use some common sense. They can't give advice on every tiny variation.

No it's not ok to drive to a quiet bit of the countryside.

But it isn't illegal to do so and apparently that's all that some posters care about.

They aren't bothered about guidelines or advice, which is walk close to home once a day for an hour maximum, they are only concerned with what the law says. As the law doesn't say we can't drive to the countryside then they must be ok with that right? After all, the law

When you're talking about what you can be fined for, it is useful to know what the law actually is, otherwise you get into a situation where fines are being issued due to a difference of opinion, rather than someone actually committing an offence.

Last weekend all those folk that drove to Snowdonia and the south coast beaches and other beauty spots all thought they were going somewhere quiet.

Well they were idiots - anyone with an iota of sense would realise that lots of idiots would do that. It was blindingly obvious to us that we should stick to our ok but not 'beautiful' local area, even though we would often go to the lakes or Dales on a weekend day normally.

We're not driving anywhere, but we could easily think of some local places just a few miles away which wouldn't be heaving, because we know the area. We could think of local places which we know might attract local-ish people with kids and avoid them.

Usual MN blah:

Driving to somewhere rural to do your exercise is non essential and all exercise should be done locally, so if that means you have to do your once a day exercise round the block or round your local park, then that's what you do.

Actual HMGov advice:

Restrictions on movement 6.—
(1) During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.
(2)For the purposes of paragraph (1), a reasonable excuse includes the need—

(a)to obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2;
(b)to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household;

So, we can drive to the countryside for exercise then?

Well who's 'we' and where's the countryside? Don't think people should be taking day-trips out to Snowdonia, but I'm not going to resent my disabled neighbour driving out to the surfaced footpaths 2 minutes away even though that's also the countryside.

Yes, the law states there is no restrictions on movement if for the purposes of exercise. Driving to a walking destination is movement for the purpose of exercise.

Yes, people need to be sensible and not be like Snowden the other weekend.

GoldenOmber - yes. The first is unreasonable, the second is (I hope anyone sensible would agree) is reasonable.

Ok. So the follow the law not the rules people will have no reason to object people driving to their quiet countryside in order to exercise will they, as it's the law?

They can object and they can dislike it. Of course they can, although I am baffled by what you mean by 'their' countryside. However that has nothing to do with the law.
I don't know why some people cannot separate opinion from fact.

If too many people descend on the same area then they're inadvertently going to cause 'a gathering in a public place of more than 2 people '.

It doesn't really matter what we may opine here. If 'a relevant person' (most likely police, I suppose) deems that the 'excuse' to be out isn't 'reasonable' then they can
'(a) direct that person to return to the place where they are living, or
(b) remove that person to the place where they are living.'

(The quotation marks are because they're from the legislation not implying any sort of dissent or whatever btw).

The law isn't prescriptive; we have general guidelines as to what may be reasonable but the details in practice will vary according to local conditions and individual circumstance (eg adjustment for disability).

Haffiana

I'm referring to the people saying that it's fine for them to go out for as long as they like and for as long as they like because it's very quiet where they live and there are no laws stipulating how long or how frequently they may exercise.

Therefore, as we've established that the law doesn't stipulate that we can't travel in order to exercise that is perfectly ok for people to drive to an area in order to exercise, obviously maintaing social distancing.

Are you happy to have 70 million of us out there with you each day? Or is it just you who should be out and we stay in?

I think that's uncalled for.

Obviously OP is referring to a secret path, miles away from all civilisation, where no one, ever, ever goes.

Not like the 15 people a day who come on asking the same question.

And it goes without saying it's fine to drive there too.

My local foothpaths are more busy than usual, too, but not crowded. It's super easy to stay 2+ m away from others. I'm cheerful to everyone I meet & glad they are doing healthy activity.