This weekend changes are being made to the Highway Code. These changes have received remarkably little publicity to date but they will be included in the online version of the Code from January 29 and in a revised printed version from some time in April.
In essence, the idea is to make faster or heavier vehicles responsible for the safety of those less so, thus introducing a “hierarchy” of the road.
Pedestrians on the road are regarded as the most vulnerable. Currently, for example, if a driver, or cyclist, is turning into a road at a junction and a pedestrian happens to be crossing, the pedestrian has right of way. If the pedestrian is standing on the pavement waiting to cross, they will just have to wait until the road is clear. Under the new advice all vehicles should now allow someone standing on the pavement to cross, before driving on. Giving them, in fact, much the same priority as they would have at a pedestrian crossing.
It doesn’t explain how the motorist is expected to know that the pedestrian really does want to cross and has not just stopped to check their phone, talk to a friend, admire the view or for any other reason. One can’t help wondering how many motorists or cyclists are going to be rear-ended as a result of stopping half way round a corner as a result of seeing someone on the pavement as they turn into or out of a side road.
Next in the pecking order, come cyclists. They are advised to ride half a metre from the curb, which is sensible as it gives room to take avoiding action if necessary and will also keep delicate bicycle wheels and tyres clear of most potholes. For the sake of full disclosure, I should admit to being an occasional cyclist myself.
Cyclists are also advised to ride 1.5 metres away from parked cars in order to avoid the possibility of a car door opening immediately in front of them and causing an accident. Many cyclists will have experienced car drivers not looking before opening their doors, so on the face of it, this advice is sensible, although on relatively narrow local roads this will result in the cyclist riding in the middle of the road, possibly holding up traffic. In danger, therefore, from an impatient driver who will take a chance on pulling out to pass, with insufficient room to do so without cutting the cyclist up.
Cyclists are also advised to ride in the centre of their lane on narrow roads to ensure they can be seen, although surely this could have the same result as above. Further advice reminds cyclists that it is perfectly legal to ride two abreast and that it is often safer, especially in a large group, to do this. Once again, though, this does not take into account human nature and the impatient motorist.
To help prevent the parked car door opening scenario, drivers are now encouraged to use the “Dutch reach” when opening their door. This entails using one’s left hand and reaching across the body to the door handle and in doing so forcing the driver to turn in their seat, making it easy to see if anyone – car or cyclist – is approaching. I think this is likely to take some time to catch on, but maybe, like fastening a seatbelt, it will one day become automatic as the numbers of cyclists continue to increase.
These and other changes are all about increasing the safety of the most vulnerable, but they are not mandatory, just advisory, until, that is, failing to obey them results in an accident. The intentions here are good – one can only hope that drivers of vehicles large and small accept the need for a few changes on todays crowded roads.
Image Credits: HM Goverment , HM Government .
As cyclists are now expected to exercise greater care with pedestrian, do the new rules include a mandatory requirement for them to have bells on their bikes to alert said pedestrians of their presence? This would be infinitely preferable to the current practice of riding silently up behind pedestrians and then yelling at them to get out of the way adopted by some cyclists
Very interesting, exactly how many times has this happened? My experience of using a bell or saying “ coming by” seem to annoy a very small minority of pedestrians either way.
I am a car driver/cycle and a pedestrian.
My suggestion to people safety is more pedestrian crossings. The new instructions will be an accident waiting to happen, even if just cars going into the back of each other. Cycling in the middle of a narrow road plus pedestrians because pavements are narrow like in our high street is already a problem as car drivers at times can be quite abusively impatient.