Changes to the Highway Code

[whole diary]

[grahame]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58021450

New changes to the Highway Code will give pedestrians greater priority over cars at junctions and crossings, the transport secretary has announced.

Under the current code, motorists only have to give way when pedestrians step onto a crossing.

The new code will also ensure cyclists have priority when travelling straight ahead at junctions.

And a "hierarchy of road users" puts more responsibility for road safety on more dangerous modes of transport.

[ChrisB]

Be interesting to see how much gets legislated for & how much is purely 'guidance' - which most currently is.

[TaplowGreen]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58021450

New changes to the Highway Code will give pedestrians greater priority over cars at junctions and crossings, the transport secretary has announced.

Under the current code, motorists only have to give way when pedestrians step onto a crossing.

The new code will also ensure cyclists have priority when travelling straight ahead at junctions.

And a "hierarchy of road users" puts more responsibility for road safety on more dangerous modes of transport.

I've already seen this creating the predictable rhetoric from both sides elsewhere.

I genuinely think it would be impossible to find two groups who empathise, or even attempt to empathise with each other less than motorists and cyclists.

[grahame]

I genuinely think it would be impossible to find two groups who empathise, or even attempt to empathise with each other less than motorists and cyclists.

Highway engineers and people who want to retain the fields behind their houses?   http://melksh.am/bypass

[CyclingSid]

For those who want the detail, DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have obviously cleared out their backlog

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-highway-code-to-improve-road-safety-for-cyclists-pedestrians-and-horse-riders
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sharing-our-roads-safely
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-city-ambition-programme-2013-to-2018-review
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-uptake-of-cycling-following-covid-19-travel-disruption
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/active-travel-schemes-supported-by-government-funding
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gear-change-one-year-on-review
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-attitudes-towards-traffic-and-road-use

plus what looks like a major update of TAG.

Probably best left to more warm nights when you can't sleep.

[broadgage]

I consider these changes to be a forward step, probably a rather small step, but every little helps.

[grahame]

A very interesting angle from Forbes ...

The hierarchy places pedestrians at the top and the heaviest and potentially most lethal road users at the bottom.

The hierarchy would be:
* Pedestrians
* Cyclists
* Horse riders
* Motorcyclists
* Cars/taxis
* Vans/minibusses
* Large passenger vehicles/heavy goods vehicles

A DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) statement said "car drivers will be responsible for ensuring cyclists are safe, while cyclists will be responsible for looking out for pedestrians."

The hierarchy, added the DfT, “does not remove the need for all road users to behave responsibly.”

I find myself concerned if this is truly a hierarchy of priority - it calls for cars to have priority over buses, for example. I can just imagine the effect on performance of a bus having to wait for a gap in a stream of car traffic to pull out. As a hierarchy of responsibility, it makes more sense.

Where do unpowered (and rental powered) scooters fit in?

[Surrey 455]

I find myself concerned if this is truly a hierarchy of priority - it calls for cars to have priority over buses, for example. I can just imagine the effect on performance of a bus having to wait for a gap in a stream of car traffic to pull out. As a hierarchy of responsibility, it makes more sense.

Where do unpowered (and rental powered) scooters fit in?

I guess the "Please let the bus pull out" stickers on the back of buses will have to be removed then, if they still exist! 

[GBM]

I guess the "Please let the bus pull out" stickers on the back of buses will have to be removed then, if they still exist! 

They do!

[Bmblbzzz]

Sloppy writing. I think it concerns a mooted introduction of some sort of presumed liability system, which is really for insurance purposes rather than a legal principle. The onus of responsibility will be on the operator of the "lower priority" vehicle to prove that the operator of a "higher priority" vehicle was at fault.

[Bmblbzzz]

There's been a lot of misleading phrases used in connection with these announcements. One was that "vehicles going straight on would always have priority", implying radical and complicated changes to junction procedures. In fact it refers to the specific case of turning into. but not out of, a side road; the idea is to let pedestrians wanting to cross the road, as well as cyclists going straight on, do so with precedence over the vehicle turning into the side road.

These phrases have appeared in many different places, so it would seem the confusion arises with DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) not journalists. Perhaps it's time we stopped using the word "priority" in traffic situations and adopted more specific words.

[broadgage]

Where do unpowered (and rental powered) scooters fit in?

My view is that powered scooters should be encouraged in view of the minimal energy use and little road space occupied. They are no worse than electrically assisted cycles and should be treated similarly.

Unlikely to happen though. What is much more likely is various rules and regulations to tax, license, restrict, and discourage them.

[Ralph Ayres]

Coming from a Congregational-style church background which strives for consensus rather than imposing top-down rules, I particularly enjoyed the bit that reads "The Highway Code will be updated to suggest that those new to horse riding, or those who have not ridden for a while, consider undertaking training".

More generally, this will all take a while to filter through but does look like a positive move.  Previous changes such as including hazard perception in the driving test have definitely made it through to real-life driving over time; I notice for instance many motorists actually slowing down ready to stop as I walk towards a zebra crossing, rather than me needing to wave a toe over the kerb before anyone would even notice me as used to be the case, and many (but not all) drivers now give cyclists a far wider berth than they used to.

[broadgage]

I agree that training should be considered before riding a horse on or near public roads, I would not favour making this a requirement.
Whatever next, annual MOT examinations for the horse !

[Marlburian]

There's been a lot of misleading phrases used in connection with these announcements. One was that "vehicles going straight on would always have priority", implying radical and complicated changes to junction procedures. In fact it refers to the specific case of turning into. but not out of, a side road; the idea is to let pedestrians wanting to cross the road, as well as cyclists going straight on, do so with precedence over the vehicle turning into the side road.

These phrases have appeared in many different places, so it would seem the confusion arises with DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) not journalists. Perhaps it's time we stopped using the word "priority" in traffic situations and adopted more specific words.

Ever the pedant, I can see scope for more confusion - and most people won't bother to ponder what is meant. I've long had the vague idea that a pedestrian already crossing a road had priority and a stronger view that so had a cyclist going straight on.

But will "pedestrians wanting to cross the road" really have priority? If when I'm in a car I'm about to turn left into a side road and I see a pedestrian waiting on the pavement, do I brake to a halt to allow them to cross. I can't see that going down well with drivers behind me!

(A couple of months ago, I was walking along Oxford Road in Reading and paused to cross over the entrance to Waitrose. When driving into the supermarket, I twitch a little about cars close behind as one needs to slow right down to negotiate the 180-degree turn, and I was a little startled when a lady driver turning in to the car park stopped to allow me to cross - with the rear of her car sticking out into the main road.)