28.12.2021, 11:03
UK transformation -
...The Highway Code matters because it shapes the culture on our roads, from how road users treat each other, to how we police road users.
Three of the most important proposals, which follow a review announced in 2018, are:
- An explicit road user hierarchy, with vulnerable road users at the top. This means priority for those walking and cycling over those turning at side roads.
- Rules on giving enough space when overtaking cyclists.
- Detail on road positioning and riding two abreast, which aim to clarify a common source of conflict and confusion, even with roads police.
As Cycling UK explains, a hierarchy of road users would work as follows: “Pedestrians, in particular children, older adults and disabled people, followed by cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists. It wouldn’t remove the need for all users to behave responsibly or give priority to pedestrians and cyclists in every situation, but it would ensure that their needs were considered first.”
Campaigners would prefer it to be called a “hierarchy of responsibility”, rather than risking the suggestion that some road users are more important than others, but it is good news nonetheless.
Until now, there was nothing explicit in the Highway Code saying motorists or motorcyclists should not left hook, or turn across a cyclist’s path at a junction. The changes suggest just that, putting cyclists’ rights at junctions on a par with those driving.
Proposed overtaking rules include that drivers should give cyclists 1.5-metre space if driving under 30mph and at least 2 metres if driving over 30mph, with larger vehicles required to give 2 metres at all times. Cyclists are explicitly permitted to filter through traffic, either on the right or left of slow-moving or stationary vehicles.
There could be new “Dutch reach” rules to encourage motorists to look before opening car doors into the path of cyclists, which can be fatal...
Full article with additional links -