What's wrong with going out more than once?

[Oscarthegrouch47]

An expecting a flaming here but -

What's the issue with going for a walk twice a day? The government have said once for exercise but i like to take my dog for 20 minutes in the morning and a slightly longer route of half an hour in the evening. I live rurally and rarely see anyone at either time.

I am taking the rules about isolating and mixing between households very seriously and haven't seen anyone or been anywhere other than shopping or walking since this began, but taking two walks a day is something I really can't get het up over.

What is the actual reason that our exercise has been limited? Presumably because it increases the likelihood of contact in busier, more urban areas? I'm sure a few of my curtain twitching neighbours have noticed me going out more than once a day but I genuinely can't see the additional risk when I see nobody and come into contact with nothing (gates, stiles).

This is useful police guidance

www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/COVID-19/Documents/What-constitutes-a-reasonable-excuse.pdf

Glaceon if you knew how many of my mum’s rural neighbours are bleaching their shopping in the garden but still going round to visit their children and their friends, you might disagree!

People who live rurally just have less opportunity to demonstrate that lack of understanding, that’s all. Whereas if you live in a city you are interacting with strangers as soon as you leave the house so it is very obvious if you aren’t social distancing.

I would say that round here people are actually being pretty good about it for the most part. The people who aren’t, are the kind of people you wouldn’t really expect to anyway (the alcoholics outside the corner shop, twatty middle-aged men who think the rules don’t apply to them, teenagers trying to look “hard”). I’m sure those people in the countryside are breaking the rules too.

I'm now wondering why the carparks at parks and the coast near me have been closed off, if it's ok to drive to them to exercise. I'd love a drive somewhere frankly, but have gone nowhere other than Tesco in the car since lockdown began.

I think it's fine.

Yesterday I went out for a bike ride between 7-8. Did not see one person.

Took the dog for a walk 8-9 and saw 2 people, both more than 2 m away.

No gates, no stiles, etc.

I'm now wondering why the carparks at parks and the coast near me have been closed off, if it's ok to drive to them to exercise

It will be because so many people were driving to them that it was impossible to maintain social distancing. The country parks close to me tried to remain open at the start of lockdown but when 1000’s of visitors flocked there (far more than visit on a normal day) they had to close as 2m distance couldn’t be maintained.
It’s fine to drive for exercise as long as social distancing can still be maintained.

It’s what I do. Live rurally. Need to the dogs out very early. Then I get the kids out in the afternoon.

Would I do it if I lived in London? Maybe not.

We do need some critical thinking here.

@longearedbat exactly. I've posted about my area before under various usernames and every time people have said to me "how awful - how do you cope without x, y and z?! I couldn't live like that!" But now their cities are closed, they want to come and enjoy the area they've previously slated as being boring and pointless and dull. Presumably because their usual haunts are all closed and they don't want to walk around suburbia.

I'm eternally grateful we live where we do at the moment - I go out with the dog each day and I see maybe 5 people at the absolute most. Most days I see nobody. Over the last three weeks I've been up the woods, through the fields and to the beach - all within walking distance of my front door, it's been so peaceful!

I'm now wondering why the carparks at parks and the coast near me have been closed off, if it's ok to drive to them to exercise.

Because they were so busy that social distancing was impossible. People were driving hundreds of miles to get to the beach just because the "weather was nice".

Thanks Vanilla and Hofficoffi
So a day with bad weather and I should be ok?

Haha probably!

Of course its fine. if there is genuinely no risk then do it- the rules are there to break the chain of the virus. Yes they should be rigidly followed in highly populated areas so that there is enough space for people to stay 2m apart but if you are lucky enough to live rurally then go out as much as you like.

So a day with bad weather and I should be ok?

Haha, pretty much.

I live near a beach that's deserted for maybe 10 months of the year. Only used by local dog walkers, fisherman and the occasional horse rider or family going for a walk. I go most weeks and see maybe two other people at the most, often I have the entire beach to myself.

If it's sunny, it's absolutely heaving. Car parks rammed, roads chock full of cars - that's why our local police shut the car parks, to avoid people driving to the coast for a day out.

jaspas our R is at 1 or just less, according to the press briefing yesterday. It seemed to be explained fairly clearly?

www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/united-kingdom-coronavirus-briefing-transcript-april-16

I wonder if the police may need to amend the guidelines to define what would be a reasonable distance to drive for exercise.

I too live in an area that got completely utterly overwhelmed by tourists the weekend before the lockdown, so that the local authorities had to close all the car parks.

In theory there is nothing wrong with driving to a remote place to go for a walk. But apart from the obviously issue of overcrowding at popular beauty spots, there is also the transmission risk with people flocking from the cities to enjoy the rural areas. One way round this would be for the police to define a reasonable distance eg 2 miles from your home to drive for a walk - to keep people from spreading it outside their own area.

The sad example of what happened with National Trust gardens is another reason that the guidance had to be changed. They made their gardens free to visit, but got overwhelmed with people. It was a lovely idea - I wonder if they could offer a limited number of passes to people to prevent that from happening?

One way round this would be for the police to define a reasonable distance eg 2 miles from your home to drive for a walk - to keep people from spreading it outside their own area.

It is in no way the police's place to do that. They must base their guidance on the laws, and this limitation doesn't exist in the rules. If there is to be any such law, it must come from Parliament.

Reasonable distance will depend on the needs of the person and may be much more than 2 miles for some.

It is in no way the police's place to do that. They must base their guidance on the laws, and this limitation doesn't exist in the rules. If there is to be any such law, it must come from Parliament.

Their guidance is based on the laws, I'm not suggesting they make it law that you can only drive a certain distance. But they could issue guidance on what distance they considerable reasonable in much the same way as they have said that 'driving for a prolonged period' isn't reasonable.

My local police force have issued a statement saying "we ask you to consider that increasing the population of our area will place an unreasonable burden on them” - that's the key message.

If they issued police guidance that departs so significantly from either the regulations or guidance, that would be very wide open to legal challenge. It's just not their place.

I wonder if the police may need to amend the guidelines to define what would be a reasonable distance to drive for exercise.

Sensible people should be able to use their definition of what's likely to be reasonable:

Driving to countryside and walking (where far more time is spent walking than driving

Vs likely to be unreasonable
Driving for a prolonged period with only brief exercise.

www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/COVID-19/Documents/What-constitutes-a-reasonable-excuse.pdf

And then take into consideration known problems with popular locations and don't be idiotic enough to drive there.

I'm in London and on a local Facebook page. Based on this advice people are planning to head to the coast or to country parks this weekend.

Driving to countryside and walking (where far more time is spent walking than driving

Vs likely to be unreasonable
Driving for a prolonged period with only brief exercise.

Yeah I can see how that will be open to a lot of interpretation. What about driving 2 hours to go on a 4 hour walk..? Urgh we are going to see a resurgence of visitors to the countryside, which will enrage the locals once more

What about driving 2 hours to go on a 4 hour walk..?

Driving for 2 hours, walking 4 and driving back again would be the same amount of driving as walking so very clearly not 'far more time is spent walking than driving'.

FGS! So walk for 4hours and 5mins.

I think if it takes an hr to get somewhere I wouldn’t go because that hour would count as “travel” to me, to go somewhere else.

Whereas, a drive that takes fewer than 30mins feels local. That’s my interpretation anyway and people need to use their common sense.