IAM RoadSmart criticises UK Highway Code update proposal

UK proposals to alter existing advice in a bid to make vulnerable road users (VRUs) safer have been criticised by safety campaigners. The Department for Transport is considering a change to the Highway Code which would mean motorists should give way at all times to pedestrians and cyclists crossing at side roads. But IAM RoadSmart says this does not go far enough – and insists that longer-term measures to keep drivers and cyclists segregated in a safer cycling environment must be introduced. As things
October 22, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

UK proposals to alter existing advice in a bid to make vulnerable road users (VRUs) safer have been criticised by safety campaigners.

The 1837 Department for Transport is considering a change to the Highway Code which would mean motorists should give way at all times to pedestrians and cyclists crossing at side roads.

But IAM RoadSmart says this does not go far enough – and insists that longer-term measures to keep drivers and cyclists segregated in a safer cycling environment must be introduced.

As things stand, rule 170 of the code says that pedestrians have priority “if they have started to cross”. But it does not say who has right of way if someone is about to step off a pavement at the same time a vehicle arrives at a junction.

“For us it’s all about segregation, and safe streets for cycling and walking if you want to get cycle usage to really take off,” says Rebecca Ashton, head of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart.

“If the government is serious about wanting to increase the uptake of cycling and reduce the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads, there has to be a long-term approach to a comprehensive cycle path network.”

8101 Highways England last week announced a £3 million contract with Sustrans to help deliver a national programme of improvements to the National Cycle Network.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • London’s zero-emission plan is premature, warns FTA
    October 24, 2018
    Plans to implement a clean air zone in London are premature, says a transport trade body - because zero-emission vehicles are not commercially viable. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is unimpressed with the City of London Transport Strategy’s ambition to improve air quality and traffic in the east of the capital and the Barbican area by 2022. This draft scheme, which maps out a 25-year framework for managing streets within the City’s ‘Square Mile’, includes establishing a speed limit of 15 mp
    Read More
  • Chicago pop-up lanes keep buses moving 
    September 29, 2020
    Two 24-hour dedicated routes support essential workers, says CDoT
    Read More
  • LGA report forecasts introduction of road tolling
    November 27, 2012
    A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018. With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.
    Read More
  • ITS needs continuity at the policy-making level
    February 1, 2012
    ITS needs to be sold to politicians in plainer terms and we need to be encouraging greater continuity at the policy-making level says Josef Czako, chairman of the IRF's Policy Committee on ITS. At the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008, the International Road Federation (IRF) held the inaugural meeting of its Policy Committee on ITS. The Policy Committee's formation, says its chairman, Kapsch's Josef Czako, reflects an ongoing concern over the lack of deployment of ITS technology on roads in anything li
    Read More

Highlighted Content