Allow people to travel up to 10 miles to exercise

The issue of people travelling to the countryside to exercise as families was only an issue because they then went into the local shops to buy food, which scared the locals because that brought in risk of virus spread, as well as a loss of food items available for local people.

If people were allowed to exercise (socially distancing) but not go into centres of population and shops, there wouldn't be an issue.

People could then endure a less stressful lockdown for a bit longer.

Why the contribution is important

It's important for people's mental and physical health to get out of the house occasionally.

by AMK on May 07, 2020 at 08:55AM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.2
Based on: 11 votes

Comments

  • Posted by JLaw May 07, 2020 at 09:39

    If restrictions are relaxed, it would be good to have an advisory distance limit for travel to exercise, as different people have very different ideas. Most people seem to be sticking to the current rules, but the current restrictions may seem unfair for lots of people who don't live near any green space.

  • Posted by Crowlady151 May 07, 2020 at 10:22

    Perhaps before relaxing restrictions on those already allowed to go outdoors to exercise, we should be focussing on those who currently cannot. Safe outdoor areas need to be organised for those placed in the “shielding group”. Using testing combined with restricted outdoor areas this could be achieved

  • Posted by RandomUser May 07, 2020 at 10:25

    The obvious problem with this is that increased travel means increased risk of mishaps. If you get in a road accident during a journey it puts stress on emergency services. Nevertheless, I'd like to get some fresh air out of the city with my toddler, so it's a difficult one to balance.

  • Posted by Cowden May 07, 2020 at 10:54

    Why on earth would this be ok, if you want to exercise open your house door, go out, lock the door then go for a walk, simples!!!

  • Posted by Greenside May 07, 2020 at 11:05

    If adopted this would permit people in towns and cities who do not have gardens (and there are lots of those) more freedom and also support those who live in large social housing estates who currently have very limited access to decent outdoor and/or green spaces in their immediate locality. As noted above, if restrictions are relaxed it would be good to have an advisory distance limit for travel to exercise.

  • Posted by stellathomson May 07, 2020 at 11:34

    I fear that travel BY CAR of any kind to exercise whether to play golf or to walk somewhere beautiful will cause an increase in traffic we shouldn’t encourage. In order to create safe spaces for people to walk or cycle keeping social distancing we need to take space back from motor vehicles and encourage local walking,cycling .

  • Posted by bobadamson May 07, 2020 at 14:26

    Social distancing is what’s needed, not random restrictions on particular activities since this will likely be with us for a long time - many months. Comments about car accidents are obviously correct since no cars = no accidents, but the strain on the NHS is already so much reduced that this kind of ‘normal’ accident rate would not be a burden.
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