This Saturday 29 Jan, the rules for all types of road users will be updated in The Highway Code to prioritise the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders. Whether you’re a regular or casual road user or a professional driver like our brand ambassador (former Top Gear Stig Ben Collins), we all have a duty to stay up to date with The Highway Code. Many of the Code’s rules are legal requirements and you could be committing a criminal offence if you don’t obey them. From Saturday, 9 sections of The Highway Code are to be updated, which will see 50 rules being added or changed. Here we cover the main changes affecting drivers of motor vehicles. New hierarchy of road users The biggest change is the introduction of a new ‘hierarchy of road users’. These new rules place the road users who are most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarch – whilst those in charge of vehicles will be nearer the bottom in order of level of danger they could pose to others. Pedestrians are to be at the top of the chain, followed by cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists, drivers of cars, vans and large passenger or heavy vehicles. This means motorcyclists and car drivers will have more responsibility to look out for cyclists and pedestrians, while drivers of large vehicles such as heavy commercial vehicles, coaches and buses will be expected to use extra caution around all other road users. Here’s the new structure of hierarchy:
What is The Highway Code? The Highway Code was first published in 1931. It’s a set of guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom containing information about road signs, road markings, vehicle markings and road safety – along with guidance on driving licence requirements and other documents, penalties, vehicle security and vehicle maintenance. Between Jan 2020 and June 2021, 4,290 pedestrians and 4,700 cyclists were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads, according to figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
- Pedestrians
- Cyclists
- Horse riders
- Motorcyclists
- Cars / taxis
- Vans / minibuses
- Large passenger vehicles / heavy goods vehicles
- Other traffic must give way to people crossing or waiting to cross at a junction
- If people have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, the people crossing have priority and the traffic should give way
- Drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists must all give way to people on a zebra crossing, or walking / cycling on a parallel crossing. (A parallel crossing is similar to a zebra crossing, but includes a cycle route alongside the black and white stripes)
- leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
- leave at least 2 meters (6.5 feet) of space when passing people riding horses or driving horse-drawn vehicles at speeds under 10 mph
- leave at least 2 metres (6.5 feet) of space and keep to a low speed when passing people walking in the road (for example, where there’s no pavement)
What is The Highway Code? The Highway Code was first published in 1931. It’s a set of guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom containing information about road signs, road markings, vehicle markings and road safety – along with guidance on driving licence requirements and other documents, penalties, vehicle security and vehicle maintenance. Between Jan 2020 and June 2021, 4,290 pedestrians and 4,700 cyclists were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads, according to figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).