While driving to exercise might be unwise it is not prohibited by emergency legislation--new guidance for police.

[BreathlessCommotion]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/30/uk-police-guidelines-coronavirus-lockdown-enforcement-powers-following-criticism-lord-sumption?

Lem0nandg1nger I’m exactly the same. 👍🏻

But most of my friends are literally terrified of the rain. meanwhile my DC and I do the school run in all weathers including Atlantic storms (our favourite)

I could've sworn one of the things people were allowed to do in the beginning was go for a drive. I swear they always said that. Hopefully the power hungry police will calm down.

MrsMcGarry

Can't you see that where you are claiming the law doesn't say you can't drive so that justifies you driving 5minutes up the road the numpties in this country will now say that it permits them to drive 30miles to the beach or 50miels to the countryside.

That's all still legal right? So why can't all of us who live in London drive out to the beaches and countryside this weekend for a long walk?

If people had more than two brain cells to rub together, to have the ability to use common sense and would just stop and think before saying and doing things, there would be no need for any of this.
I break the rules. But, hear me out.

I drive for two miles at 5:30 am to a deserted beach to exercise my dogs. I touch nothing. There is nothing to touch. I do sometimes see other people, but at such a distance they probably could not hear me scream, let alone anything else.
At 7am I put the dogs back in the car. I shop nearly every day, by popping into a small co-op. It has automatic doors, i do not need a trolley or basket, i just carry whatever to the self check out, wave my card at the reader and leave through the doors. I have seen one other person in the shop at the same time as me.
I am home by 7:30am and dont leave again until the next day.

I believe I am safer, and keeping everyone else safer, by doing this. Unfortuneately, idiots who take it too far and clog up carparks will no doubt put my jaunts to an end, because if we are restricted to exercise within a kilometer or two of the front door, I will obey, no problem, but will be exposing myself to far more risk than I am now.

It is all common sense. Unfortuneatley that is in short supply right now.

Another issue is we need people to be sensible and respect social distancing but people loose respect and think fuck off when they here or see teens in parks late at night but plod is persecuting shop owners for selling Easter eggs.

Vicbar I agree with you, sounds perfectly sensible to me.

There is a difference between what we should do and what we legally can or cannot do. The police only have the right to enforce the latter, they can advise the former but anything else is a massive overstep that has the potential to have a far reaching impact on civil rights
I agree.

Our police force have taken an educate and advise approach but have still had to issue fines for people who were causing issues.

However, I still think the level of selfishness on MN is awful with lots of people saying "I want to do X and nobody can stop me". People have said that we've been advised to limit going out and the response from some has been "can't make me because it's not in law".

Even this morning with the clarification there's people gloating about how that means they can continue to do what they want because they don't count and it's just guidance.

So new guidelines coming out for the overzealous police. Really this has been embarrassing for them.

I plan to for a drive this weekend to have my exercise of the day. I hope they start using their time more productively and apply bit common sense.

Person walking dog alone=ok.

Vicbar, what you are doing seems fine.

I'd like to drive somewhere nicer, but I don't have a dog, a toddler, am not pregnant, or have a disabled partner. All good reasons which might justify driving somewhere else. So I don't do it, as I can't justify it on any basis other than I'd like to do it. I walk in the streets near my house instead.

If everyone who just fancied driving somewhere because it's nicer to walk in the woods etc stopped doing it then it would be better for those who have a genuine need. Wants shouldn't trump needs. But I think some people are too selfish to see it like that, and risk the rules being changed for all, which would be a shame.

The police don't try and grab anything, they do are they have been instructed to do, its their job. They don't make the laws they make people abide by them.

The trouble is that they seem to have misread their instructions. It must surely be obvious to the police that they only power they have is what they have been given by law, and they have no power to stop people driving to exercise.

I'm all for people being sensible and not driving when they don't need to do so, but what seriously irritates me is the amount of police time spent on bullying us where it's not justified. My reaction to that Derbyshire drone film was to wonder what the hell was necessary about playing with drones and wasting time making pointless films. I was looking recently at the Twitter feed of a cop in the West who said all he had done all day was to stop cars and ask drivers why they were driving.

We're in a situation where there is a known rise in domestic abuse. There is also a whole new field of opportunistic crime for people pretending they are helping the vulnerable get their shopping etc. How is it a sensible use of police time to stop and interrogate key workers driving to work when these problems urgently need to be addressed?

It might not be illegal but please don't do it. I live in a small hamlet and we are inundated by people driving here to walk their dogs. I wish they would stay in their own town or village and keep their virus there with them.
When they meet on a footpath it is hard to keep 2m apart.

Plus it is ONE outing to exercise a day, NOT once out with the dog then another outing for you.

Oh and PLEASE pick up after your dog and DON'T leave poo bags hanging on gates or hedges.
People appear to think because it's rural they can just leave dog poo on the side of footpaths.

My daughter lives in a 2 bed flat in a city centre with her 2 young children. They have no outside space at all and she has no partner to help out.

At the moment she is driving to park on our drive, we wave at her and our grandchildren through the window and she takes them for a walk. Although we live on a main road we are a 5 minute walk to a wide country lane which is generally very quiet and everyone is able to stay the required 2 metres apart. We use the same route (at a different time) and probably meet 2 or 3 other people doing the same thing and they have all been very good at social distancing.

It feels safe and I have been dreading them being told to stop. I honestly think that it's the only thing that's getting our daughter through this.

I should have said, the drive to our house takes about 7 minutes, so she's not even leaving the area.

"Are we willing to loan these freedoms back simply because we are told to by whoever happens to be in charge?"

yeah they be saying I be not walking on motorway but I be doing what I like. They canst not tell me what to do. So there!

I still drive to walk my dog, to dog parks. Many across the UK have asked if they can remain open for business and this is just one of the responses.

Not sure there can be much room for misinterpretation...

So when the inevitable happens they will simply make more laws preventing us from doing it

Boris gave a simple message because everyone seems intent on not following advice

SpruceTree are you sure your inundated? That’s highly unlikely.

@SpruceTree It is not one outing a day.

The human race has been nominated for a Darwin Award.

@longearedbat it is once a day for exercise. There is a lot of flexibility within the rules but it is clear that it is once a day for exercise.

"It might not be illegal but please don't do it. I live in a small hamlet and we are inundated by people driving here to walk their dogs. I wish they would stay in their own town or village and keep their virus there with them*
But... But... But... They want to go somewhere niiiicceee. It's just guidelines, not the law, so it doesn't apply they cry "you can't make me!".

They fail to see that if lots of people start driving to nice rural places then they get busy. I'm sure some of our nice, accessible more rural walking areas will be busier because now people will take it as a green light to ignore the guidelines to exercise near your home.
Of course what will happen is the sensible majority will follow the guidelines and the selfish types will ignore them and take the absence of reasonable to validate their own selfish actions.

Breathless Commotions .The point is yes your dog does need exercise as does mine .However the rules state once a day for exercise per person and thats all .Going out a second time means you are putting yourself at risk not just of catching an illness ,but also potentially falling over or having an accident and needing medical help .We have a fairly big garden to play ball with her ,and this has replaced the second walk .We all have to make sacrifices to fight off this terrible illness .If everyone went out twice a day then that would be double the amount of people out than recommended!

But I think Boris is at fault too for hugely over simplifying the message

But people were previously complaining that he wasn't being clear enough. I think that people know exactly what the score is. They either like to just moan about the government being useless/don't want to follow the rules and so use not understanding as a loophole/any of the other feeble excuses I've heard folk coming out with.

SpruceTree are you sure your inundated? That’s highly unlikely. You obviously don't live in a small village surrounded by footpaths. Where we used to live is a tiny hamlet and they have had roads blocked by parked cars, footpaths full of dog walkers and family group walking, almost processional. Given that many of the paths go through people's gardens it is a big issue to them. Miles from police, no possibility of gettng help to move these people on.

They have now got together and a couple of farmers have moved their farm machinery onto the verges to prevent people from parking up.

Like many other posters on this thread, I'm appalled by the way the police have taken 'guidance' and applied it as 'law'. They have thrown their weight about in this district, where we barely see them from one month to the next, traffic law is not enforced and the response time to a serious crime is a good half an hour.

I have massively reduced the amount I drive, because I really don't want to be a dick, but I am still driving sometimes, including about once or twice week to train my dog on an abandoned field, well away from anybody else. Keeps me sane, keeps her from climbing the walls, and means that I don't walk there along well-used (and sometimes very narrow) footpaths and through a park busy with families.

As for the advice quoted above and bolded about 'you should not drive to get there', that is NOT government advice and I could only find it on a website called PatientInfo.

People talk about changes in society following this situation. Honestly, upping the standard of reading comprehension might be a bloody good idea.