Suicidal country lane joggers

[Ayahuasca]

Mrs A was driving child 3 to school the other day along a narrow-ish country lane - the sort that with enough room (just) for two cars side to side, but no pavements, and enclosed in high hedges, and twisty turny. National speed limit, but no real chance of making progress, and always the risk of a large tractor suddenly appearing around a bend.

She gets to a medium speed left hand bend, no visibility around it, and is suddenly faced with a female jogger jogging towards her, on her side, in the middle of the lane. She managed to swerve around the jogger - who was wearing headphones !! and nothing happened. But, had a car been coming the other way, there would be nowhere to swerve and the options would have been run the jogger over, a head-on collision, or a ditch and possibly a tree.

Now clearly the jogger was entitled to use the road, but was she entitled to put traffic at risk by running in the middle of the oncoming lane around a blind bend?


I have run along similar lanes, but having heard approaching traffic would stop to stand on the verge in that situation.

[Ayahuasca]

kieranbennett said:

Ayahuasca said:

She gets to a medium speed left hand bend, no visibility around it,

I would say that it was a low or very low speed bend. Your wife was driving too fast.

Highway Code Rule 126: Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.

This was the advice that I gave her! At some peril to myself.

[Ayahuasca]

Pothole said:

Ayahuasca said:

She gets to a medium speed left hand bend, no visibility around it, and is suddenly faced with a female jogger jogging towards her, on her side, in the middle of the lane.

I hope she didn't get indignant about the jogger running along facing oncoming traffic, like the Highway Code says she should.

Not indignant at all, more amazed that anyone would run towards unseen hidden traffic in the middle of the road around a blind bend whilst wearing headphones. In other words placing their life in the reaction time and swerving ability of any oncoming traffic.

To add to the danger, wife’s car is a hybrid electrickery thing - silent but deadly.


I once read an article in ‘Performance Car’ that said that one should imagine that there could be old lady driving a Caterham around each blind bend - sound advice. But you still don’t imagine that the Caterham is driving towards you on your side.

[Ayahuasca]

I will drive the route and see what speed I take the corner at....!

[Ayahuasca]

Ok I think I have ID’d the bend in question. Not entirely as originally described. Mrs A has a speeding phobia so would not have gone over 30mph and would be tucked in to the left to avoid any unseen oncoming traffic. The jogger appeared in the middle of the left hand lane just beyond the apex.

[Ayahuasca]

Well, well, well....

So the jogger chose not to use the pavement.

Puts a slightly different spin on things.