Highway Code: How the update could improve road safety

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Since the Road Traffic Act of 1930, dangerous driving has been illegal in the UK, but many drivers still break the rules.

Even though there have been huge advances in vehicle safety technology over the last two decades, the fatality rate on our roads is on the rise for the first time in 40 years.

UK drivers ignore the rules because they know they can get away with it, according to safety groups.

Changes in the language of The Highway Code will come into force on January 29th.

If a driver is caught on camera putting other road users in danger, they are more likely to be fined.

According to the updated rule book, large vehicles pose the greatest threat of harm to smaller vehicles, horse riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

What is included in the legislation is clarification. In previous Highway Code editions, drivers were warned to be aware of vulnerable road users, but now they must put them first.

Rule H3 tells motorists that they should not cut across cyclists, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles going ahead when they are turning into or out of a junction or changing direction.

If they are using a cycle lane, a cycle track or riding ahead on the road, you should give way to them.

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Cyclists call this move the left hook, when a driver overtakes them on the right and immediately turns left across them. If a cyclist is able to record a move on camera, the chances of successfully prosecuting the driver have increased.

Andy Cox, head of crime with Lincolnshire Police and formerly lead for Vision Zero, a London-based road injury reduction project, says he is optimistic. The police cannot be everywhere all the time, but the public can be.

He says he has seen how effective using cameras can be in reducing bad driving, and that in London we were able to enforce about two-thirds of all submissions.

Fixed penalty notices, points on your driving license, and suspended jail sentences are just some of the things that can be said from those enforcements. He thinks vulnerable road users will change their behavior if they can submit evidence of bad driving.

Some cyclists told me they had a close pass, they had their footage referred to us, and then they saw the same vehicle again, but it gave them more space.

The guidance is a bit clearer now. Stuart Kightley, a personal injury lawyer in London, agrees that it would assist the police in situations where they might want to prosecute.

The Department for Transport (DfT) came under fire from drivers on social media for not publicising the code update more widely.

There will be abehaviour change campaign later in the year according to Trudy Harrison, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the DfT.

The DfT says it has set up a working group of key organizations to make sure details of the changes are spread as widely as possible.

Drivers who say they are concerned about being filmed and reported by over-zealous cyclists should think twice, warns Detective Chief Inspector Cox, because dangerous driving is not just a traffic offence - this is road crime.

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Alan Hiscox, director of safety at the British Horse Society says he is absolutely thrilled with the changes because they make specific reference to overtaking.

The Highway Code says that pass horses at a max of 10mph and give them 2m can be used.

In January, at least two horses were killed on UK roads, and the BHS says about 1,000 road-based incidents are reported to them each year.

Mr Hiscox says that it is up to the individual horse rider to decide if they want to wear a helmet camera.

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Ian Walker, professor of environmental psychology at Surrey University, who has researched changing driver behavior towards cyclists, is more skeptical that the code changes can tackle a subset of drivers who won't care and don't feel they should share the road.

Driving is hard to change.

He says that raising awareness of the rules and knowing that you are more likely to be caught will be important in driving change.

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To be effective, cameras must be small enough for a bike or helmet, but capable of picking out number plates at high speed and in low light.

It should not be up to the riders to cover the additional cost of this tech when it is the drivers responsibility to keep them safe.

The father-of-two, who lives in Manchester and is an enthusiastic cyclist, says that cameras are great for gathering evidence, but he got into cycling to relax, not to spend his time submitting police reports.

He developed PassPixis after an incident with a driver. The lightweight Badge can be fixed to a jacket or bag to tell drivers behind them that they are being filmed.

I tried using a cheap action camera, but it soon became apparent they were not visible enough for drivers to notice. It doesn't deter bad driving.

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I used to find myself bellowing at drivers five times every 20 miles, and Mr. Roe has only made two police reports since he developed PassPixis. If I do it again, I consider it a bad ride.

The update to the code and the apparent success of it did not impress Mr. Roe, who still resents having to use the threat of legal action to keep himself safe.

It takes a camera sign to make drivers change their behavior.