Driving

If I take my car to drive out of London (say to Kent) for a walk, does this contravene the regulations? And will Mr. Plod stop me and ask as to my reason for travelling? Will 'Number Plate Recognition' alert police to my journey?

In the last lockdown this started as verboten but later was allowed - so long as you are breaking no other 'rules' - i.e. not mixing households - and not travelling so far that you could not return the same day I suspect you would be able to argue it out. I am not sure what, if really anything, the police are doing to enforce these rules. I think they will be looking for gross infringements, not acts of individuals.

But we are in a 4 week lockdown situation?

... that draft was misposted and not quite ready .. more later.

Stay at home is the first thing the guidance says so although the answer is yes you could drive for a walk should you just because you can?

The guidance says you can travel to an open space

?to spend time or exercise outdoors - this should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)?

Could you go for a walk locally? We have more green space than other places in London. Rather than driving out for a walk could you visit / re-visit a local green space each day? I?ve been taking pictures of the same 3 locations in a local park on my weekly visits and hope to see how its changed over time in due course. I?ve also seen squirrel behaviour I hadn?t taken in before. I?m finding there is more on the doorstep than I thought and no need to suffer the traffic, which might be less than it was but the roads aren?t clear. 20 minutes walk and I?m at the park, 20 minutes in the car and at least the same to go again before you can walk. Even without the fact we are in lockdown is driving for a walk always necessary?

Local green space is all very good, but it's really good for the soul to get out somewhere different and experience the countryside, which is needed more than ever during lockdown.

I think that the recent travel restrictions only apply where you are travelling in/out of an area with different restrictions i.e. you couldn't go in and out of Wales for non-essential reasons during their circuit breaker, or Liverpool / Manchester when they were Tier 3. I don't think that there was ever a restriction on travelling between Tier 1 and 2, and all of England is in the same lockdown anyway now.

It's all about being sensible in the end. Don't sit in a 3hr traffic queue to go where everyone else is heading (like the beaches in the summer); Don't drive in a manner that would give Plod an excuse to be picky; Don't park where you are blocking country roads, etc., and I'm sure you'll be fine. Anyway, I think that the weather will enforce lockdown this weekend.

I see no restriction in the current regs on how far you can travel. You can leave your house for any reasonable excuse, and outdoor recreation is explicitly listed as a reasonable excuse.

Plod can pull you over whenever they want to, under the Road Traffic Act. They can and do ask you all sorts of things, The opening line is usually ?Do you know why I?ve pulled you over??, but maybe they might ask what you?re up to. There?s no need to be difficult but at the same time there?s usually no legal need to answer questions other than providing your driving licence and other vehicle related stuff. There are plenty of people driving and behaving like idiots, so they have enough people to pull over without needing to bother with people out for a nice quiet drive in the countryside (which is perfectly law abiding behaviour, unless you pick up a passenger and fall foul of the illegal gatherings restrictions).

I doubt whether many under 30 would understand stuff about being stooped by the police. Very common to be pulled over when I was a young driver/motorcyclist and there would often be a dubious reason - get this or the other checked out. Any back chat and it would be come down the station or some other threat. I remember showing two officers my Jersey Driving License meaning I could ride up to 250cc without a UK license (I got one of those not long after) to be told that they could nick me for anything. Don't ever say "haven't you got anything better to do/criminals to arrest rather than harass law abiding citizens". There tends to be a sense of humour failure there... I'm being light-hearted but this is from real experience albeit in another age. Sorry, lounge talk.

I was often pulled over as a white, female driver in the 1980s. I was a nervous wreck when aged around 19 I had to appear in court for something I knew I had not committed and was let off for in extenuating circumstances!

I think England allows you to do so - but worth checking for insurance as well (an illegal journey might not be insured and the article below doesn't list exercise - it's also November 2020).

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/drivers-warned-insurance-invalid-non-22974841

The government site says

"11. Travel

to spend time or exercise outdoors - this should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)"

But what if an open space is closer to you - typical wibble wobble :)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

You car could break down when you are out driving to an exercise destination. That is why exercising near home is encouraged. It also means you might stop for petrol which doesn?t help minimise the spread.

Under the current lockdown driving to Kent would not be allowed and there have been reports of drivers been challenged by police as their vehicle was registered outside the area.

Guidance on exercise says ?you should not travel outside your local area.?

Regarding travel guidance says ?If you need to travel you should stay local ? meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live ? and look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall.? Specifically for exercise under travel it says ?outdoor exercise. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)?. Short distance is open to interpretation but Kent, mentioned in the OP during the last lockdown would seem to me to be against the spirit if not the law.

The police need to interpret what counts as a short distance and we all know people see things differently and this will be no different.

If you can walk do - have you seen the street art around here? If you can?t Sunray Gardens, Peckham Rye Park, Dulwich Park, Belair Park, the Horniman Gardens, Brockwell Park are all within 15 minutes drive (though I saw East Dulwich Grove is down to one lane on contraflow when I walked down today and you can?t drive through the village back to East Dulwich in morning and afternoon peak with the restrictions so walking is by far preferable if you can leaving the roads clearer for those who can?t or have to drive for work.

There are police stationed on the south circular every day doing ANPR checks and pulling people over. The guidance is not to leave your local area for exercise so it?s likely you would be stopped if spotted.

Are you feeling ok? Do you want to go on a walk and for how many miles? There is plenty of amazing walks around here, start with Sydenham woods up and down for instance. But also the whole Lordship Lane up and down for a start works very well.

You do not exercise driving and if you go by car so far away just for such purpose you risk to have unnecessary and risky interactions with other people that increase the probability you catch the virus and you pass it on to others. So it is just a matter of being reasonable ...my conclusion is that it would be much more satisfactory for you to concentrate on what clothes you have to put on and what can be be your destination, if you need a packed lunch or how many hours you think you are fit enough to walk, especially if it snows or rain... just put your face covering on or mask and go out walking without worrying of any rule and regulation.

Dominic Cummings did not make after all, so I would not follow that idea of driving to walk in another County...

Under the rules it wouldn?t be allowed as we?re supposed to stay local for exercise.

However if i was in a very at risk group i think i would prefer to drive to some more deserted / open spaces and steer clear of the public spaces in southeast london which are rammed at present

You shouldn?t be driving out to Kent unless it?s absolutely necessary. Driving out of London to go for a walk is not a good idea and it is a breach of the regulations.

Fitzgeraldo Wrote:

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> If I take my car to drive out of London (say to

> Kent) for a walk, does this contravene the

> regulations?

Yes it does contravene the regulations, and yes, police may well use anpr to catch you. ?200 fine if caught, but it is not about the fine, it is about doing your part by sticking to the rules.