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

  • Fewer cars - more reckless drivers, says GHSA
    April 22, 2020
    Emptier streets may be a green light for some US drivers to flaunt the law, according to police reports.
    Read More
  • Slow adoption of European VMS harmonisation
    January 31, 2012
    Alberto Arbaiza, ES4-Mare Nostrum Chair, Directorate General of Traffic, Spain and Antonio Lucas-Alba, ES4 Secretariat, INTRAS, University of Valencia, Spain write about progress towards variable message sign harmonisation in Europe . Particularly in Europe, national road administrations have been faster at generating and adopting new road signs than the standardisation process has been at generating them.
    Read More
  • Smart communities require 5G, says Samsung Electronics America
    January 11, 2019
    A community has to have 5G in order to be a smart community, which means having a regulatory environment which is conducive to investment. This was among the key messages at 5G and Self-Driving Vehicles: A Policy Roadmap at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in las Vegas, US. John Godfrey, senior vice president, public policy, at Samsung Electronics America, said communities have a role to play in partnering with the private sector in using 5G. “A way to improve to improve the safety of s
    Read More
  • Cost benefit: Toronto retimings tame traffic trauma
    July 19, 2018
    Canada’s largest city reckons that it is saving its taxpayers’ money simply by altering the way traffic lights work. David Crawford reviews Toronto’s ambitious plans to ease congestion Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolis (and the fourth largest in North America), has saved its residents CAN$53 (US$42.4) for every CAN$1 (US$0.80) spent over a 2012-2016 traffic signal retiming programme, according to figures released by its Transportation Services Division. The programme covered 1,275 signals (the city’s
    Read More

Highlighted Content