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Highway Code {UK} Changes and additions
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 12:11 pm    Post subject: Highway Code {UK} Changes and additions Reply with quote

I have received an email from the Highway Code Service regarding changes, and new additions to the {UK} Highway Code as from the 29th January, 2022.

New rules regarding stuff like cycling & horse-riding, and how we motorists will have to cope with them.

Distances, etc are now in the rules [either mandatory, or advisory ,but can be used in Evidence in a Court, etc]...
There is an acknowledgement that on narrow country roads these distances may well be impossible to achieve, and therefore an onus is placed upon the vulnerable road user to show consideration, etc, for vehicles, etc.

But on narrow roads, which we, the old car-driving brigade, tend probably to inhabit more than most other vehicle ''drivers''..[such a description may be taken with a pinch of salt]..we might come to see our own ability to make progress, more severely curtailed by those also using the lanes for leisure purposes.

On the upside, our older vehicles tend to be a lot narrower than today's shapeless behemoths [panzervagens?]...so we might find it a lot easier to pass the likes of push-bike riders, and still comply with the new Highway Code....whereas everybody's path might get obstructed by modern vehicle drivers simply having to 'follow behind'' the cyclist...if the carriageway does not widen out enough at any point?

Sadly, whilst pushbike riders can now pass either side of me in my Dellow, in traffic...I am not permitted to squeeze the Dellow between two cyclists riding side by side.

Still nothing noted about me refraining from melting lycra with the Dellow's side exit exhaust...

I include the link from my email...

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-highway-code-8-changes-you-need-to-know-from-29-january-2022?utm_source=dvsa&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dvsa-direct


Poor old Rick.....the Anglia will take an absolute age to get past any leisure-cyclist now...
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
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Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What does it say about an oncoming cyclist on a narrow road, perhaps just appearing around blind bend? I assume we must always be able to stop even if the bike doesn't.

Peter
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peter scott wrote:
What does it say about an oncoming cyclist on a narrow road, perhaps just appearing around blind bend? I assume we must always be able to stop even if the bike doesn't.

Peter


Nothing noticed..but then dealing with such a situation should be part of any driving licence holder's repertoire?
The danger in that situation where one's 'vanishing point'...or the distance one can see, clearly, ahead, comes very close to the front of one's vehicle. The danger being, a thing called 'closing speed.'
Closing speed being, the sum of both vehicles' speeds, added together.
The effect of closing speed is that, the amount of time each driver or rider has, to respond the the sudden appearance of the unseen oncoming vehicle, is as if both vehicles were travelling at the closing speed.

Thus, any cyclist may reckon they can stop their pushbike in a very short distance from 20 mph.....but if the oncoming, unseen car is also doing 20mph, then the cyclist's stopping distance is actually as if they were riding at 40 mph! A different story altogether.
Since, the distance seen to be clear, isn't the distance one has available to stop within!

This adverse effect can be mitigated by appropriate road positioning before, and into, the corner or bend.....and the reduction of one's own speed.
For the UK, positioning would mean, hard over to the left side, not only prior to the bend or corner, but through it as well....at least until one can see further.
This, combined with a reduced speed, allows an unseen oncoming vehicle driver/rider, to have an escape route, to the best of your own ability.
Plus, having knocked off some of one's own speed, allows the oncoming driver/rider a better chance of recovering from their surprise [because they haven't thought the same way as you].....and to manage to avoid piling into one's front.

The only assumption I make is that, if I cannot see very far ahead, for whatever reason...I assume something is coming the other way....and act accordingly.
Most riders/drivers simply hope they can react in time, at the same time as controlling what their vehicle does.
I prefer to 'anticipate.'

Something every UK driving test actually assesses.
If the test candidates actually knew it!

Which most probably don't?

Thus far, I manage to save someone else's bacon at least a couple of times every week.
But hey, I'm 'retired' now, so I spend my driving days simply putting into practice what I [successfully] preached for a few decades.

Of course, there's always the judicious and lawful warning of approach?

A good blast of one's hootah on approach might have an effect?

Even if it only causes such surprise to the unseen cyclist that they manage to fall off?
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am too long in the tooth to start changing the way I drive now. I have held a clean license since passing my test in 1970 and never had an insurance claim against me.

The new rules have incensed the I.A.M - of which I am a long term member - and if they think safety will be compromised, the authorities would do well to think again.

.......then again, we have a Government which thinks that "smart" motorways are a good idea (which they patently are not!) and even worse want to see how many more people are horrendously killed in the next five years before they admit to their idiocy.
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Penman



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4751
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alastair: as a fellow retired instructor, albeit still a contributor to MSA Newslink, I used to get pupils understanding that they needed to be able to stop in half (or even less) of the distance they can see to be clear.
Doesn't cover all eventualities (like excessive speed by the other driver) but it is better than the alternative.
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mikeC



Joined: 31 Jul 2009
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Location: Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 9:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was taught to always drive assuming I could meet myself coming the other way!
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have no intention of being derogatory, but........

My driving 'style'..or, my driver learning process, despite being 'taught' initially by some of the best Instructors around [London Transport]...has been a continual learning process.....for over 50 years. More than half of those years spent, behind the wheel, in a big vehicle, often in the most horrendous of traffic environments {IE not cruising hour after hour on a motorway]....for 8 or more hours every working day.
I made a lot of mistakes, I took many many chances, and, in the early years often got caught.
Although, like Ray, no-one has ever made a successful claim against me.
Which doesn't mean they couldn't have done.....but either didn't pursue the matter, or failed to provide the insurance assessor with the most relevant information [more likely]..
I haven't been in Court for a driving offence for nearly 50 years wither [before fixed penalty tickets]....and not had a speeding ticket since the early 1980's, in my motorcycling days..
All of which doesn't mean I may have committed offences..either unlawfully, or unsocially.

Since then I have probably become quite good at 'getting away with it'..

Which makes me wonder how many of us out there actually 'get away with it?'

Just because we arrive at our destination without [noticeable] incident, we assume we have arrived 'safely'. Should we really actually be thinking that we were ,in fact, lucky to arrive at all?

I cannot remember what my car driver instructor 'taught' me.
I only recall vague snippets of what my London Transport Instructors taught me.

They achieved their objectives...since I managed to reach the required standard on car and PSV driving tests, [[three separate PSV tests as it turned out, for three different types of PSV]...at the time.
When I gave up full time driving ,for a game of soldiers, [I had had enough really...the world out there was changing, andI wasn't happy with the changes.], I fell into the world of driver education.
I found it easy and delightful as a working world, probably because I found it easy to analyse what I did , as a 'driver'...and, understand where, and, more importantly, why, I went wrong throughout all those years.
I was in a working world also inhabited by various skilled individuals from whom I could blatantly learn. But, learning is not enough.
Understanding the whole shebang is what is important.
Once one finds one understands about 'driving', then it becomes easy to help others by variety of explanation. Since no two people gain insight the same way.


On the topic of SMART motorways..the government didn't get the 'idea' wrong. The idea met the burgeoning needs of the so-called travelling public, at the time. Needs which were being clamoured for, by drivers.
Where much of road safety goes wrong is the failure to acknowledge that far too many drivers do not meet the conditions of issue of their licences. Indeed, if they actually have a licence in the first place.

The big problem with the SMART motorway, lies with the people using it.

Where the Govt 'went wrong' was in failing to actually protect us from ourselves.

Personally I cannot agree with organisations like IAM [as an example]...in far too many respects.
The Highway Code concepts work fine....providing, every road user applies them..and applies them appropriately.

Where all matters of safety on the public highway fall apart is where the road users ignore the rules, and invent their own.

Or, more likely , couldn't care less.
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Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
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Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The main concern I had when reading these new rules - and the publicity that's come along with them - is whether we'll now have loads of non-driving* pedestrians just stepping off the road into the path of oncoming vehicles on the basis that they have some right of way, without giving any consideration to how long it takes a car to stop, or how much it hurts if it doesn't. The "it's my right of way" crowd, basically.

There's plenty of them already stepping out onto pedestrian crossings staring at a phone who obviously already think that, and haven't been instructed on the proper use of a crossing - stop, wait for the cars to stop, look right, left, right again, then cross, and (my particular bugbear) get off your bike and push it across the crossing.

(* by that I mean pedestrians who cannot drive, have no experience of driving, no knowledge of stopping distances etc. as opposed to people who can drive but are walking at the time.)
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's not uncommon for people to stand at street corners and the driver still has to assess whether the pedestrian intends to step into the road or he/she may need to park for as long as the person chooses to stand there.

Peter
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
by that I mean pedestrians who cannot drive, have no experience of driving, no knowledge of stopping distances etc. as opposed to people who can drive but are walking at the time

There is a presumption the primary user of a public highway [road] is the motor vehicle.
I can fully understand how this arises, given how our whole society is geared around the use of motor vehicles for almost every aspect.
But [as the new rules seem, to me, to emphasise?] the Public Highway is for all road users.
A driver of a motor vehicle is required to undergo a test, for fitness to operate a motor vehicle. In the same way that, to fly an aircraft requires a pilots licence....having proved a fitness to operate an aeroplane. Both tests do not only assess a candidates' ability to exercise control over the vehicle, but[and this even applies at sea] also there is an assessment of the candidate's ability to interact with other road users, [aircraft, or boats.]

In the driving test this probably forms the vast majority of the syllabus.

Nobody on foot 'needs' instruction, or training , to use the public highway.

A pedestrian has equal access to the Highway Code,wherein there lies advice, and also, regulation.

A pedestrian on the public highway has always had a priority over motor vehicles. Unless, specifically banned from using that public highway, by Law. The hew rules re-iterate that, indeed, emphasising it.

Perhaps, as a sign of the times, we, as drivers, should make use of the same technologies as pedestrians, and fit cameras to record events...?
Then, if a pedestrian fails to take special care when stepping off the pavement, this can be shown subsequently?
But, the new rules [if read carefully] make special emphasis to pedestrians, horse riders, cyclists, etc taking care of themselves by exercising awareness of the limitations of motor vehicles.
In other words, the Highway Code does inform all categories of road user to take care at all times, especially when etc etc.
It is written in. It can be used in evidence of liability.
Whether road users know, or even, care what is written is another issue altogether.
That also applies to drivers as well as riders, etc.
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's O.K. to step off the pavement into the path of oncoming vehicles there seems little point in having designated pedestrian crossings at all. Rolling Eyes
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ray White wrote:
If it's O.K. to step off the pavement into the path of oncoming vehicles there seems little point in having designated pedestrian crossings at all. Rolling Eyes


From the Highway Code, Rule 1


Quote:
General guidance (rules 1 to 6),
Hide
this section
Rule 1
Pavements (including any path along the side of a road) should be used if provided. Where possible, avoid being next to the kerb with your back to the traffic. If you have to step into the road, look both ways first. Always show due care and consideration for others.


Whilst pedestrians will always have priority over other road users [which means a car driver does not have any right to simply mow down an errant pedestrian]....and is nothing to do with a 'right of way' [which is, in reality a footpath]....the Highway Code has the proviso in red, above.
The driver of any motorized vehicle is obliged to exercise care & consideration for other road users, and also is obliged to 'anticipate the actions of another road user'...For a driver, the description doesn't mean, another vehicle, as so many drivers think, but applies to any road user.

Further rules advise pedestrians to proceed to the nearest pedestrian crossing.
So, it's all in there!
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Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
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Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alastairq wrote:

So, it's all in there!


It is, but the pedestrian or cyclist who has never driven has no need to read the highway code. I know they should, but we've all seen cyclists that just cycle across a crossing without looking, never mind stopping and waiting for the traffic to stop. I think there's an issue there, but I don't know what the solution is - even if there was a rule that cyclists had to pass some kind of test, it's not practical to put the same requirement onto pedestrians.

Fortunately I don't drive in particularly busy areas, and I tend to drive through town with half an idea that someone will do something daft sooner or later.
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We can debate the rule changes until the cows come home, I'd stick with the old axiom:

Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men

Dave
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MVPeters



Joined: 28 Aug 2008
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Location: Northern MA, USA

PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's probably a gravestone somewhere "I had the right-of-way".
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