Western Morning News (Saturday)
Rules of the road take a wrong turn
The New Highway Code is an accident waiting to happen, says Ian L Handford
WITH over 40% of the British population authorised to drive, no one knows how many drivers fully understand that on January 29 a new Highway Code emerged, fundamentally changing the way we drive in the future. As the head of RAC road policy said: “The changes are so substantial its vitally important that they are communicated clearly – unless everyone is aware of them, there is a risk of angry clashes and, at worse, unnecessary collisions”.
There are more than 50 changes in the Department for Transport’s new Highway Code. They include 14 rules wishing to deter us from overtaking, cutting in and insisting that car and lorry drivers give priority to cyclists and pedestrians at all times. The official wording says drivers should “give priority to cyclists going straight ahead – to ensure a more mutually respectful and considerate culture of safe and effective road use that benefits all users”.
At present, the new Highway Code is advisory, although the threat of fines, penalties, points on licences and – in the worst scenario – jail is certainly real. The new code produced by officials seeks to switch all responsibility for road safety to drivers. How on earth they managed to undertake a formal consultation without asking for any representatives from the motoring organisations to be present is beyond belief.
My hope is members of Parliament will throw out the code, which is to say the least most confusing, if not downright dangerous. I suspect that most drivers are oblivious to the new code, which if ever read will be found confusing, controversial and ultimately will create a legal minefield for cyclists, pedestrians, scooterists and every road user judged at fault rather than a driver.
The influential cycling lobby – which must include Lycra-clad racing cyclists – already create concerns for drivers and pedestrians. Likewise, the growing number of e-scooter and powered board users and in some circumstances electric mobility chair owners using the road will also, under the new code, be given priority over all vehicles.
For decades drivers have watched in horror as cycle lanes and pedestrian paths increase. A and B main roads are often narrowed or removed in the name of safety. Indeed, the new Highway Code comes because the Department for Transport wish to improve safety on all roads, in spite of the fact that thousands of miles of additional cycle lanes and pedestrian walkways have already been created, yet are so often ignored. Local authorities construct new pedestrian paths and dedicated lanes for cyclists, electric bikes, skates and board riders because they get free grants from central Government – not because of safety issues.
The obscure terminology of this new code, with phrases like “must ensure a more mutually respectful and considerate culture of safe and effective road use to benefit all users” and “you should not cut across a cyclist just like you would not cut across another motorist”, is highly confusing, which alone should determine the code is scrapped.
As a driver, I am not anti-cyclist or anti-walking. I own a bicycle and often ride on the seafront. In Devon, thousands of miles of cycle lanes and pedestrian walks have been installed at massive cost. Yet as cycle lanes and walkways proliferate, they never seem subject to an audit or accountability against the huge investment involved. Less than a mile from my home is a separation lane at Hollicombe (funded by Southern Water) requesting cyclists leave the road and cycle through the park as the main road narrows.
The request is ignored by 90% of cyclists. A hundred yards later, a second special cycle lane along Preston seafront has become a walkway for dog-walkers, pedestrians, prams, scooters and runners with rarely a cyclist ever being seen.
The new code threatens every type of licensed driver, who already experience the dangers caused when cyclists and pedestrians pass unseen alongside their vehicle at all times of day.
Department for Transport officials even now suggest that cyclists should ride two abreast in the middle of a road, while drivers must allow at least five feet between their vehicle and the closest bike, adding also “it will not be mandatory for riders to use cycle lanes” – so what on earth have they been put in for?
Heaven help us if our members of Parliament endorse these unworkable proposals or, as one lawyer states, “what we have here is in effect motorists having to bear responsibility for cyclists and pedestrians – as it falls completely on the motorist’s shoulders – when we want harmony and safety and this is going to invoke war between road users”. And he is absolutely right.
Ian L Handford is a former national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and writes regularly for the
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