It’s a problem alright, pedestrians have no clue either, as required I’ve gave way to them at junctions and they clearly have no idea in the change in priority. It needs a national campaign with the hedgehogs haha
Be serious…
Who believes the 39% of “good drivers”…
> More than three-fifths of UK motorists have not read recent updates to the Highway Code, according to the AA.
There definitely should be a more robust way of getting road law changes across to road users in a straightforward manner.
Working in conjunction with petrol stations to display materials around the station (as one possible solution).
The most I see of some changes are as clickbait articles that I refuse to read because so often – they’re useless:
> *Three things motorists MUST know to avoid £10,000 fine!*
Or..
> *The EXACT time new rules start on UK roads that all drivers need to know!*
I cycle to and from work by necessity – epileptic seizures mean I can’t drive until at least next July and the buses here are unreliable and take 3 times as long as it takes to cycle.
I would give up if I could. The number of people that swear at me, honk their horn at me, make close passes, etc., is obscene. All of it is because I’m following the highway code and they either haven’t read it or worse, don’t respect it.
I don’t have enough mental health left to choose to cycle on the road, I just have to because there aren’t any other options for me.
I’ve read them, but as a pedestrian I still wait for cars to enter junctions because most people don’t understand they should let me cross.
As a driver I try to let pedestrians cross, but they still wait for me to enter the junction. So I have the choice of either trying to signal to someone to cross when they’re not looking at me, or to just go as if the new rule never existed.
Both drivers and pedestrians need to be on the same page for this rule to not only work, but for it to be safe.
Also, if a pedestrian is waiting to cross and I’m trying to let them go before I turn into a side road or something, then it can become a pretty unsafe situation. The pedestrian is waiting to cross, they might look at me and I suggest they cross, but the pedestrian also needs to look out for other traffic entering the junction. Now it’s 3+ people that need to agree that the pedestrian has the right to cross. You could end up in the situation where someone crosses because a driver tells them to, and they don’t see a car coming in the other direction. Happened all the time *before* the rule change.
Including the BBC author, who incorrectly writes “must” when most of these rules are simply “should”s. That’s because the rules changes aren’t due to mandatory legislation.
Edit: hello BBC, I see you read the Reddit comments on your posts and update articles accordingly!
Communication of this was awful though- I haven’t read it.
The bits I’ve heard just sound bizarre though- cars waiting on main roads to let pedestrians cross. Who came up with the ideas? Seems like a recipe for disaster.
Well they never read it before haha!
No not surprising at all and it would nto be surprising especially to anybody who rides a bicycle on the roads. You see so much bad driving.
I can’t even get drivers around my area to stop at zebra crossings for me, and I even nearly got hit by a car who decided to run a red at a pelican crossing a couple of months ago.
Even if drivers were all fully aware of the guidance, I do not trust the majority of them to actually follow it.
Try to take right of way on a junction as a pedestrian and see how it goes. Many motorists just don’t give a shit – They’re in their metal box, everyone else better watch out.
I know that these specific bits of guidance have very little to do with the actual government but I still can’t help but lump every bit of government activity together since Brexit. It’s all just a melange of nonsense there to enrich someone else, so I can understand people simply not bothering to stay up to date.
The only way to truly enforce pedestrian priority is with road design. Rebuild junctions like Dutch cities.. with continuous pavements, proper traffic calming etc. Or even just put zebra crossings on every junction.
Anecdotally though, I feel British drivers are are actually pretty good with cyclists compared to Dutch drivers. You don’t mingle with traffic much due to the segregation, but when you do they tend to pass pretty close and quick.
How many of you’s first thought on reading this was “What new guidance”?
This is honestly the first I’d heard of it.
Frankly people should have to retake driving theory tests every few years. Otherwise most drivers wont bother to even look at them again after getting their license.
Same percentage of drivers who would fail their test if forced to resit it tomorrow
I have never, and will never argue with something, larger, faster, heavier and able to kill me in an instant.
its human logic. I’m waiting till the road is clear. every single time, or i am using a zebra crossing.
no amount of “you have right of way” will get me to step out into traffic..
The communication behind it was woeful and continues to be so.
The AA are asking why people aren’t reading the new rules but I’m willing to bet the majority don’t even know there are new rules to read.
First thing I heard about them was some FB meme a couple of weeks after the rules had been introduced.
It changed? perhaps they could get more people to read the guidance by uh, actually telling us about it? I for one do not have time to check the locked filing cabinet in the disused lavatory in the cellar with no stairs.
I’m surprised 39% have.
You mean people who passed their test in 1989 and have continued to drive without keeping up to date or having any formal training?
I’m shocked.
What’s even better is the same pillocks then shout at you obscenities and demand you “go and read the Highway Code.”
I did Keith the Kia. Shortly after it changed, like you’re supposed to. Not once in 1986 and think I know it all because “I’ve passed my driving test, I therefore know everything.”
Giving way to pedestrians WAITING TO CROSS is an idiotic piece of legislation. There wasn’t anything wrong with how it was before.
Are they going to retrain all the guide dogs?
What about foreign drivers where it’s not something they’re used to either?
There are drivers who know and will give way, other won’t. The drivers who don’t know won’t.
All this has done is cause uncertainty which is the last thing you want when trying to make the roads safer for everyone.
People should keep left unless overtaking yet the motorway is full of middle lane hogs. People should signal correctly and not tailgate.
While most people do the correct thing there’s enough who don’t. Planning needs to take that into account.
This law is awful because it assumes the driver knows of the law and is paying attention.
People make mistakes all the time. I don’t want to be somebody’s mistake. I’ll wait till the car goes past thanks.
I’m not even sure the cyclists know, to be honest. Or they don’t trust others to know maybe?
Like the rule that should help avoid “left hook” collisions by giving priority to cyclists going straight if you’re trying to turn. Had my first experience of that the other day, turning left at a junction when I knew a cyclist was behind me and intending to go straight. I just sat there indicating left, giving way… and he just sat there behind me, doing the same… after several seconds he worked up the courage and went but yeah, as a cyclist how can you possibly trust people are gonna do that?
That one rule in particular seems like it will *increase* accidents to me, not decrease them, through cyclists trusting that drivers will follow the new rules and have noticed them approaching.
61% is surprisingly low, unless “saw it mentioned on the news” counts as reading it.
I personally find the change around pedestrians and crossing at junctions to be unintuitive and thus dangerous.
The roads are for vehicles, big heavy dangerous vehicles, driven by imperfect humans. We have been raised to be wary of them to be safe. This change to me goes against this and sends mixed signals.
Similar to how I think the American school bus rules are ass backwards, in how they train young children to expect vehicles on a road to just stop for them so they can run aimlessly across the road. Whereas we had/have whole campaigns about stop look listen, look both ways etc.
It is also bad because it causes unexpected behaviour of vehicles while driving. Just like how its stupid and dangerous when a driver stops to let a car pull out on to the road, or to let a car on the right side pull across down a side street. We all agree this is bad as other drivers don’t know wtf you’re doing just randomly stopping. This will now be the case for a car turning down a road and as far as everyone else can see your clear to turn but you’ve decided to just stop in the road because someone just happens to be walking near the drop curb…
Which goes on to something I’m unsure of, do I need to stop just because someone is near the curb and might just walk out across the road? Because if the pedestrians just follow the rules written they can just step into the road as I’m about to turn and I’m in the wrong?
26 comments
It’s a problem alright, pedestrians have no clue either, as required I’ve gave way to them at junctions and they clearly have no idea in the change in priority. It needs a national campaign with the hedgehogs haha
Be serious…
Who believes the 39% of “good drivers”…
> More than three-fifths of UK motorists have not read recent updates to the Highway Code, according to the AA.
There definitely should be a more robust way of getting road law changes across to road users in a straightforward manner.
Working in conjunction with petrol stations to display materials around the station (as one possible solution).
The most I see of some changes are as clickbait articles that I refuse to read because so often – they’re useless:
> *Three things motorists MUST know to avoid £10,000 fine!*
Or..
> *The EXACT time new rules start on UK roads that all drivers need to know!*
I cycle to and from work by necessity – epileptic seizures mean I can’t drive until at least next July and the buses here are unreliable and take 3 times as long as it takes to cycle.
I would give up if I could. The number of people that swear at me, honk their horn at me, make close passes, etc., is obscene. All of it is because I’m following the highway code and they either haven’t read it or worse, don’t respect it.
I don’t have enough mental health left to choose to cycle on the road, I just have to because there aren’t any other options for me.
I’ve read them, but as a pedestrian I still wait for cars to enter junctions because most people don’t understand they should let me cross.
As a driver I try to let pedestrians cross, but they still wait for me to enter the junction. So I have the choice of either trying to signal to someone to cross when they’re not looking at me, or to just go as if the new rule never existed.
Both drivers and pedestrians need to be on the same page for this rule to not only work, but for it to be safe.
Also, if a pedestrian is waiting to cross and I’m trying to let them go before I turn into a side road or something, then it can become a pretty unsafe situation. The pedestrian is waiting to cross, they might look at me and I suggest they cross, but the pedestrian also needs to look out for other traffic entering the junction. Now it’s 3+ people that need to agree that the pedestrian has the right to cross. You could end up in the situation where someone crosses because a driver tells them to, and they don’t see a car coming in the other direction. Happened all the time *before* the rule change.
Including the BBC author, who incorrectly writes “must” when most of these rules are simply “should”s. That’s because the rules changes aren’t due to mandatory legislation.
Edit: hello BBC, I see you read the Reddit comments on your posts and update articles accordingly!
Communication of this was awful though- I haven’t read it.
The bits I’ve heard just sound bizarre though- cars waiting on main roads to let pedestrians cross. Who came up with the ideas? Seems like a recipe for disaster.
Well they never read it before haha!
No not surprising at all and it would nto be surprising especially to anybody who rides a bicycle on the roads. You see so much bad driving.
I can’t even get drivers around my area to stop at zebra crossings for me, and I even nearly got hit by a car who decided to run a red at a pelican crossing a couple of months ago.
Even if drivers were all fully aware of the guidance, I do not trust the majority of them to actually follow it.
Try to take right of way on a junction as a pedestrian and see how it goes. Many motorists just don’t give a shit – They’re in their metal box, everyone else better watch out.
I know that these specific bits of guidance have very little to do with the actual government but I still can’t help but lump every bit of government activity together since Brexit. It’s all just a melange of nonsense there to enrich someone else, so I can understand people simply not bothering to stay up to date.
The only way to truly enforce pedestrian priority is with road design. Rebuild junctions like Dutch cities.. with continuous pavements, proper traffic calming etc. Or even just put zebra crossings on every junction.
Anecdotally though, I feel British drivers are are actually pretty good with cyclists compared to Dutch drivers. You don’t mingle with traffic much due to the segregation, but when you do they tend to pass pretty close and quick.
How many of you’s first thought on reading this was “What new guidance”?
This is honestly the first I’d heard of it.
Frankly people should have to retake driving theory tests every few years. Otherwise most drivers wont bother to even look at them again after getting their license.
Same percentage of drivers who would fail their test if forced to resit it tomorrow
I have never, and will never argue with something, larger, faster, heavier and able to kill me in an instant.
its human logic. I’m waiting till the road is clear. every single time, or i am using a zebra crossing.
no amount of “you have right of way” will get me to step out into traffic..
The communication behind it was woeful and continues to be so.
The AA are asking why people aren’t reading the new rules but I’m willing to bet the majority don’t even know there are new rules to read.
First thing I heard about them was some FB meme a couple of weeks after the rules had been introduced.
It changed? perhaps they could get more people to read the guidance by uh, actually telling us about it? I for one do not have time to check the locked filing cabinet in the disused lavatory in the cellar with no stairs.
I’m surprised 39% have.
You mean people who passed their test in 1989 and have continued to drive without keeping up to date or having any formal training?
I’m shocked.
What’s even better is the same pillocks then shout at you obscenities and demand you “go and read the Highway Code.”
I did Keith the Kia. Shortly after it changed, like you’re supposed to. Not once in 1986 and think I know it all because “I’ve passed my driving test, I therefore know everything.”
Giving way to pedestrians WAITING TO CROSS is an idiotic piece of legislation. There wasn’t anything wrong with how it was before.
Are they going to retrain all the guide dogs?
What about foreign drivers where it’s not something they’re used to either?
There are drivers who know and will give way, other won’t. The drivers who don’t know won’t.
All this has done is cause uncertainty which is the last thing you want when trying to make the roads safer for everyone.
People should keep left unless overtaking yet the motorway is full of middle lane hogs. People should signal correctly and not tailgate.
While most people do the correct thing there’s enough who don’t. Planning needs to take that into account.
This law is awful because it assumes the driver knows of the law and is paying attention.
People make mistakes all the time. I don’t want to be somebody’s mistake. I’ll wait till the car goes past thanks.
I’m not even sure the cyclists know, to be honest. Or they don’t trust others to know maybe?
Like the rule that should help avoid “left hook” collisions by giving priority to cyclists going straight if you’re trying to turn. Had my first experience of that the other day, turning left at a junction when I knew a cyclist was behind me and intending to go straight. I just sat there indicating left, giving way… and he just sat there behind me, doing the same… after several seconds he worked up the courage and went but yeah, as a cyclist how can you possibly trust people are gonna do that?
That one rule in particular seems like it will *increase* accidents to me, not decrease them, through cyclists trusting that drivers will follow the new rules and have noticed them approaching.
61% is surprisingly low, unless “saw it mentioned on the news” counts as reading it.
I personally find the change around pedestrians and crossing at junctions to be unintuitive and thus dangerous.
The roads are for vehicles, big heavy dangerous vehicles, driven by imperfect humans. We have been raised to be wary of them to be safe. This change to me goes against this and sends mixed signals.
Similar to how I think the American school bus rules are ass backwards, in how they train young children to expect vehicles on a road to just stop for them so they can run aimlessly across the road. Whereas we had/have whole campaigns about stop look listen, look both ways etc.
It is also bad because it causes unexpected behaviour of vehicles while driving. Just like how its stupid and dangerous when a driver stops to let a car pull out on to the road, or to let a car on the right side pull across down a side street. We all agree this is bad as other drivers don’t know wtf you’re doing just randomly stopping. This will now be the case for a car turning down a road and as far as everyone else can see your clear to turn but you’ve decided to just stop in the road because someone just happens to be walking near the drop curb…
Which goes on to something I’m unsure of, do I need to stop just because someone is near the curb and might just walk out across the road? Because if the pedestrians just follow the rules written they can just step into the road as I’m about to turn and I’m in the wrong?