The new Highway Code guidance: safety first

On 29th January, 8 changes to the Highway Code came into force. They are designed to improve the safety of people walking, cycling and riding horses. However, the new rules have not met with universal approval, with some motorist pressure groups arguing that they will cause more accidents, not reduce them.

So what’s new on the highways of the United Kingdom? Eight sections of the Highway Code, which contains advice and rules for people on Britain’s roads, have been updated, with 50 rules added or amended. The changes are advisory so non-compliance will not directly result in fines, though courts will take compliance into account if cases make it that far. Much of the emphasis is being placed on cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians to film drivers who don’t take the new guidance into account.

That being said, it’s clarification, essentially, rather than changes in the legislation, that has been published. This is what’s new:

Hierarchy of road users
People in charge of vehicles that can cause the most harm in the event of a collision have the greatest responsibility to look out for other road users.  It does not remove the need for everyone to behave responsibly.

People crossing the road
Traffic should give way when people are waiting to cross at junctions, updating the earlier guidance that applied only to those who have already stepped out on to a crossing. Traffic must give way to people on zebra crossings.

Walking, cycling or riding in shared spaces
Cyclists should not overtake people walking or riding a horse in shared spaces closely or at high speed, and pedestrians should not obstruct paths. Cyclist should not pass a horse on its left.

Positioning in the road
Cyclists should make themselves as visible as possible by riding in the centre of lanes on quiet roads, in slower-moving traffic and at the approach to junctions. People cycling can ride two abreast but should be considerate of the needs of other road users when in groups.

Overtaking when driving or cycling
Drivers travelling at speeds of up to 30mph should leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists. They should give more space when overtaking at higher speeds. That should be 2 metres when overtaking horses or people walking in the road.

Overtaking cyclists at junctions
When cyclists are travelling straight ahead at a junction, they have priority over traffic waiting to turn into or out of a side road, unless road signs or markings indicate otherwise.

Roundabouts
Drivers should take extra care when entering roundabouts to make sure they do not cut across cyclists.

Opening car doors
Car occupants should open doors using their hand on the opposite side to the door, making them turn their head to look over their shoulder. This technique, known as the Dutch reach, reduces the chances of doors being opened into the path of cyclists and motorcyclists.

Parking, charging or leaving vehicles
Electric car owners using a public charge point should park near the device and avoid creating a trip hazard from trailing cables.

What does seem to be the case is that there has not been the level of publicity that we might expect to see, given the importance of understanding the new regulations. An AA survey of more than 13,700 drivers in January found that 33% were unaware of the changes, including 4% who had “no intention” of looking at the details. Indeed, Edward King, the AA’s president

“voiced concern at the potential impact of the guidance to give way to pedestrians at junctions, saying it risked collisions, since drivers who stopped to allow someone to cross on dual carriageways or fast-flowing A roads were ‘likely to get hit by another vehicle from behind.’”

Obviously, the desire to make the road safer for non-car drivers is commendable, both in terms of the need to end people’s love affair with individual, petrol and diesel-based modes of transport in the fight against climate change, and the importance of keeping the country’s citizens safe. We have got where we are today after 10 years of campaigning by Cycling UK and other bodies. Cycling UK argue that the new rules

“should make our roads significantly safer for people cycling and walking, provided the changes are properly communicated, with clear, accurate and memorable messaging, and the new rules are backed up with visible road traffic enforcement by the police.”

The key here is the communication and messaging, as indicated above. Drivers on Twitter have been criticising the Department for Transport for not publicising the new guidance more widely, though it is hard to know whether that is a genuine reflection of the level of public knowledge, or simply a reaction from motorists who don’t like the changes. Just over a week on from the first day of implementation, it’s impossible to tell.

When Cycling UK published its response to the government’s consultation on the rule changes, it provoked the biggest campaign in the charity’s history, with over 16,500 people writing to the Department of Transport in support of the changes. It has been pressing the government since the end of last year regarding the lack of a sustained public awareness campaign for the new guidance. It seems safe to say that if cyclists, walkers, horse riders and other more vulnerable road users act on the changes and motorists do not, accidents will increase. Thankfully, Trudy Harrison, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Transport has stated that there will be a broader "behaviour change campaign" later in 2022.

Here at Mainer Associates, we discussed the importance of the consultation – as it then was – in an article published in November 2020. We argued that the 2020 lockdown, in which we enjoyed the reduction of traffic on our streets along with widened cycle lanes, provided “a boost for environmental campaigners wishing to reduce car usage and increase healthy forms of transport”.

Furthermore, the changes in our work and recreation habits brought about by Covid have led to the largest annual increase in the number of people cycling for 5 years, with 7,493,000 people taking part in some form of cycling in 2021, up from 6,267,600 in 2020.

As we said in 2020, the proposals are health and safety led, rather than environmentally led. However, the two will clearly go hand in hand over time, as other measures to reduce the amount of petrol-based vehicles on the road are introduced. But most important of all is the potential impact this can have upon encouraging people to do that most basic of things: consider others.