Highway Code updates for 2022 - awareness reminder from gov.

[Haliotis]

The updates mainly refer to drivers’ awareness in respect of pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders.  Hierarchy has been amended to help those highway users who cause the least harm, although there is little basic change for those drivers who already respect and follow the Code.  The unfortunate (but not surprising) failure of the government is to work under the illusion that all road users generally behave correctly in accordance with the rules.  But their real failure is to give cyclists in particular a seemingly open season against drivers in making them [drivers] prime responsibility in the event of accidents.

One of the clauses is that cyclists may ride two abreast where it is safe to do so, but they can (CAN? - shouldn’t that be must?) move into single file to allow a vehicle to overtake. What if an oncoming vehicle has a cyclist ahead and needs to pull out to pass safely, but an obstinate ‘two abreast’ cyclist refuses to move in - passing closer than wished to the cyclist.  An accident in the making, but who is really at fault?

Another ruling - a driver turning left into a side road must not cut across a cyclist to his left. But, if he is showing his indicator and has safely passed the cyclist well ahead of the turning, what then?  The driver slows down to make the turn, still indicating, but the cyclist continues at a speed that is now quickly catching up on the slowing vehicle, and the cyclist hits the side of the now turning vehicle. Under the new rules, it would appear that the driver alone is to blame.

These are just two examples - I’m sure that the majority of you drivers out there could give many more instances from personal experience.  You see, we all know that many young (and sometimes not-so-young) cyclists do the most stupid acts among moving traffic.  The government has not indicated how old a young cyclist should be before being allowed on the road without adult supervision.  And the government seem to have assumed that all road users behave correctly (except drivers, of course!!!) and the non-drivers cannot be the cause of an accident. 

Personally, my approach to driving already covers the required actions for safety - I have no wish to have the responsibility for another person’s welfare on my conscience; neither do I want the cost and inconvenience of sorting out my own problems in the aftermath of a collision.  But I still resent the government’s perceived attitude that we drivers are villains, and the totally innocent non-drivers need to be protected from us at all costs.

Oh, concerning horse-riders, for these I apply an extremely careful approach. If I am following a horse, I will not start to pass until I know the rider is aware of my presence, and then only pass when it is safe to do so and, using absolutely the widest possible clearance, carefully increase my speed until well in front of the horse.  If the horse is oncoming, I will slow right down and, if narrowness of the road demands it, I will stop until the horse has safely gone past.

None of the above is clever or praiseworthy - I just like to believe it is the result of how I was brought up, with respect to all others with whom I share the planet.

[Rhymes with Paris]

A well written analysis there.

I have no problem at all with cyclists who ride on the road responsibility and sensibly.

It's the ones (and e scooters) who swing on and off the road without even looking while illegally riding on footpaths.

They use the tactile paving at pedestrian crossings with lowered kerbs intended to help blind people, and lowered kerbs at driveway crossovers to do this at speed.

Suddenly appearing in front of cars,vans and larger wagons without any kind of thought about stopping distances to save them,of course they can't, they don't know what is coming if they don't look.

It really worries me when driving, not because my reactions are slow getting older, they are still very quick, as I have saved a few by braking hard in time, while they just swan off without even having seen me due to not looking.

Dash cams every journey I say,in what may be a forlorn hope of protecting myself against accusations of careless or dangerous driving if one day, these idiots swing out, and it's impossible to see them in time.

I slow down anyway if I see them on the footpath, as I just know that they'll be on, over,or going in the wrong direction against the traffic any minute.

[Bper]

Driving is certainly a joy is it not.😡

[Haliotis]

28 minutes ago, Bper said:

Driving is certainly a joy is it not.😡

You have to go a long way back to find any joy in driving on UK roads.  Until Covid struck, we regularly spent 6 or 7 weeks in France (May - July) each year, and I found driving in France more relaxing. 

Returning to my gripe about UK driving, what does annoy me is that, whilst the government/local authorities recognise there is a problem, they seem to relate all the woes to the motorist and specifically aim accusations and potential “cures” at this group.  But the so-called experts are, in fact , far from being experts at all.  The car driver is an easy target, both for blame and for extracting revenue, and this facility alone generates a “blind eye” in really getting drown to the nitty-gritty of the subject.  E-scooters are illegal on our roads, but how often does one hear of the police dealing with them?  To make matters worse, a few local authorities have made E-scooters legitimate, providing they are council-owned and earn revenue - a ridiculous double standard.

I did once get a local traffic island markings amended - needing my intervention despite it being a regular run by police drivers between two police stations.  Doesn’t say much for police drivers’ observatory performance!  It’s was a small battle for a minor change, so I never bothered to make representations about other glaring anomalies - things quite obvious to any experienced driver; but apparently NOT to the “experts” who plan our highways.

So, these days, I simply stay alert as possible and put up with the sub-standard roads and rules like everyone else.