Dad refuses to pull over for daughter after leaving rest stop, she pees herself. AITA?

Every road trip includes at least one stop for disgusting (but delicious snacks), and one close bathroom call.

In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for not stopping in time for his daughter to use the bathroom. He wrote:

"AITA after my daughter wet herself in the car?"

I’ll try to keep this as straight to the point as possible. My family and I (39M) traveled to visit my wife’s parents for Thanksgiving which involved a 5ish hour drive one way. My daughter (13F) had gotten the new Zelda game for her birthday a couple weeks ago and spent the drive playing basically nonstop. On the drive back home, we stopped about 2 hours in for gas and a bathroom break.

My wife and daughter went inside while I gassed up before going with my son to the men’s room. When we got out, my wife and daughter were already in the car, so we got back on the road. Not even half an hour later, my daughter announced that she had to go to the bathroom and asked if we were stopping soon. I’m not a d*ckhead (maybe an AH?) so I wasn't mad but I was confused.

I asked her if her stomach was okay, and she said that yes, she felt fine, and that she didn’t have to pee when we stopped but had to pee now. I gave my wife a look, and she stammered that she (daughter) said she didn’t have to go. Fine. Whatever. Dumb, but whatever. I asked my daughter if she needed us to stop right this second, or if she could hold it for a bit. She said that she had to go, but could wait.

Another 10 or so minutes passed before she frantically asked if we could stop because she really couldn’t wait. I told her I would get off at the exit with a bathroom. Needless to say, she didn’t make it.

My wife is annoyed with me for not stopping immediately, I’m annoyed with her for letting her say she didn’t have to go when I suspect she just wanted to get back to her game, and we’re both annoyed with my daughter for wetting herself when it was easily, easily avoidable. AITA?

Redditors weighed in with all of their road trip thoughts.

Particular_Title42 wrote:

Idk about you but I could suddenly have to go in 30 minutes even though I don't need to now.

YTA for ignoring her urgency whether it was her "fault" or not. It was easily avoidable by you stopping as well. But who had control of the car? Not her.

musicorloseit88 wrote:

She probably said she could wait out of fear of making you upset. YTA You could have pulled over right away or maybe reminded her to go if she isn’t used to longer rides. Before pulling out of the gas station, “go try to use the restroom just in case bc we aren’t stopping til we’re home” she’s a child still. If you’re really that worried about her game use then deal with that separately.

I remember crying in the back seat of our family vehicle because I had to pee so bad and my dad would not stop, I didn’t need to ask to know. And if I’d had an accident it would have been much much worse. I’m 39 and that s#$t still bothers me. Don’t be a bomb that’s always going off emotionally around the family. Is it really that big of a deal to stop again?

No-Locksmith-8590 wrote:

YTA when a kid tells you they gotta pee, you pull off at the next stop. She could probably tell you were annoyed and that's why she said she could wait. Is it annoying? Sure. But that's part of long a$s road trips.

secret_thymus_lab wrote:

YTA. Plus, when a teenaged girl suddenly begs for a bathroom break, there is a strong likelihood she may have started her period unexpectedly or may need to change pad/tampon sooner than expected. It doesn’t sound like her period was involved here, but as the parent of a teenage girl, you should be aware of this and not respond by grilling her or demanding to know if she can hold it.

OP is clearly TA here, he should have simply pulled over.