A YouGov poll carried out on behalf of Cycling UK (link is external) suggests that many British drivers are still unaware of last year's changes to the Highway Code, implemented to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

The research — undertaken this month to mark the one-year anniversary of the changes, which came into effect on 29 January last year — showed that a quarter of British adults (25 per cent) asked were unaware of the update to the Highway Code, while just 28 per cent of those who said they were aware could correctly answer a question about safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists.

Of those who were aware, 72 per cent incorrectly answered the question: 'how much space should a driver leave when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph?'. Furthermore, only 30 per cent of people who said they drive at least once a week gave the correct answer of at least 1.5 metres.

The concerning results prompted cycling charity Cycling UK to call on the government to commit investment in a long-term awareness campaign.

Upon the introduction of the changes, THINK, the government body responsible for promoting road safety, ran a short-lived awareness campaign which was well-received by road safety groups.

Cycling UK believes this was a good first step, but argues these figures show how much more needs to be done to "change entrenched driving behaviour, and the necessity for a sustained well-funded awareness campaign of at least three years."

Sarah Mitchell, the charity's chief executive, said: "A year on since the Highway Code update, the lack of understanding and knowledge of the changes is alarming.

"If widely adopted, these changes can save lives and make the roads better for everyone – but if you've not passed your test in the last year, it's unclear how you would know about them.

"We need government commitment and investment in a long-term awareness campaign of at least three years to help change long-established driving behaviours.

"With more people looking for other ways to travel, whether for financial reasons, health or environmental, making our roads safer for its most vulnerable users is essential."

Highlighting government figures — which show there were 1,558 fatalities on Britain's roads in 2021, of which 111 were cyclists and 361 pedestrians — Mitchell notes the initial THINK campaign cost £500,000 and suggets "saving human lives is not something we should be scrimping and saving on".

Edmund King, AA president, also commented on the poll results: "It is vital both for cyclists and drivers that the well-intentioned changes highlighted in the new Highway Code one year ago are understood and respected by all road users.

"AA driving schools are doing this with new drivers but unfortunately this recent research seems to indicate that this is not the case amongst the general public, so more action is needed to promote these potentially life-saving changes.

"When the changes are spelt out to drivers, our surveys suggest that 89 per cent support the reasons for giving 1.5m space when overtaking."

Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter and patron of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling and Walking Group added: "It is not realistic for government to expect decades of entrenched driving behaviour to change overnight.

"It took years for attitudes and habits to change over seatbelts, but they did in part thanks to a long-term public awareness campaign. We need a similar campaign to communicate the changes to the Highway Code, if we're to make our roads safer and get more people cycling and walking."

Cycling UK's YouGov poll comes just days after a study found that just 18 per cent of cyclists believe that the Highway Code changes have made a positive difference to road safety.

Worse still, 12 per cent of cyclists believe conditions on the road have worsened in the past year, while only one in ten reckon the government takes cycle safety seriously enough.

https://road.cc/content/news/most-drivers-still-dont-know-highway-code-changes-298921

On 28/01/2023 02:37 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> A YouGov poll carried out on behalf of Fairy Cycling UK (link is external) suggests that many British drivers are still unaware of last year's changes to the Highway Code, implemented to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, fairy-cyclists and horse riders.
> The research — undertaken this month to mark the one-year anniversary of the changes, which came into effect on 29 January last year — showed that a quarter of British adults (25 per cent) asked were unaware of the update to the Highway Code, while just 28 per cent of those who said they were aware could correctly answer a question about safe passing distances when overtaking fairy-cyclists.

How many of them were qualified drivers?

There are lots of people who don't drive. You might as well ask a
fairy-cyclist about the Highway Code as ask someone who has never had
need to read it.

> Of those who were aware, 72 per cent incorrectly answered the question: 'how much space should a driver leave when overtaking people fairy-cycling at speeds of up to 30mph?'. Furthermore, only 30 per cent of people who said they drive at least once a week gave the correct answer of at least 1.5 metres.
> The concerning results prompted fairy-cycling charity Fairy Cycling UK to call on the government to commit investment in a long-term awareness campaign.
> Upon the introduction of the changes, THINK, the government body responsible for promoting road safety, ran a short-lived awareness campaign which was well-received by road safety groups.
> Fairy Cycling UK believes this was a good first step, but argues these figures show how much more needs to be done to "change entrenched driving behaviour, and the necessity for a sustained well-funded awareness campaign of at least three years."
> Sarah Mitchell, the charity's chief executive, said: "A year on since the Highway Code update, the lack of understanding and knowledge of the changes is alarming.
> "If widely adopted, these changes can save lives and make the roads better for everyone – but if you've not passed your test in the last year, it's unclear how you would know about them.
> "We need government commitment and investment in a long-term awareness campaign of at least three years to help change long-established driving behaviours.
> "With more people looking for other ways to travel, whether for financial reasons, health or environmental, making our roads safer for its most vulnerable users is essential."
> Highlighting government figures — which show there were 1,558 fatalities on Britain's roads in 2021, of which 111 were cyclists and 361 pedestrians — Mitchell notes the initial THINK campaign cost £500,000 and suggets "saving human lives is not something we should be scrimping and saving on".
> Edmund King, AA president, also commented on the poll results: "It is vital both for fairy-cyclists and drivers that the well-intentioned changes highlighted in the new Highway Code one year ago are understood and respected by all road users.
> "AA driving schools are doing this with new drivers but unfortunately this recent research seems to indicate that this is not the case amongst the general public, so more action is needed to promote these potentially life-saving changes.
> "When the changes are spelt out to drivers, our surveys suggest that 89 per cent support the reasons for giving 1.5m space when overtaking."
> Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter and patron of the All Party Parliamentary Fairy-Cycling and Walking Group added: "It is not realistic for government to expect decades of entrenched driving behaviour to change overnight.
> "It took years for attitudes and habits to change over seatbelts, but they did in part thanks to a long-term public awareness campaign. We need a similar campaign to communicate the changes to the Highway Code, if we're to make our roads safer and get more people fairy-cycling and walking."
> Fairy Cycling UK's YouGov poll comes just days after a study found that just 18 per cent of cyclists believe that the Highway Code changes have made a positive difference to road safety.
> Worse still, 12 per cent of fairy-cyclists believe conditions on the road have worsened in the past year, while only one in ten reckon the government takes fairy-cycle safety seriously enough.

Fairy-cyclists are never satisfied, are they?

> https://road.cc/content/news/most-drivers-still-dont-know-highway-code-changes-298921

Ah... the journal written by illiterates for illiterates.

IanMK | 788 posts | 2 hours ago
1 like
The question was theoretical, given the amount of negative press in the tabloids and the, albeit limited, campaign from THINK! It hard to believe that 70% completely missed the messaging. If they did miss the message then it's difficult to know what else could be done. More likely they've already forgotten and it's less than a year. It's going to cost a fortune and run continuous messaging. There was far more advertising around seatbelts and mobile phones but that was years ago and may have short term effect but even those campaigns are forgotten. The only real solution is enforcement, ignorance is no excuse, get bad drivers off the road.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> IanMK | 788 posts | 2 hours ago
> 1 like
>
> The question was theoretical, given the amount of negative press in the
> tabloids and the, albeit limited, campaign from THINK! It hard to believe
> that 70% completely missed the messaging. If they did miss the message
> then it's difficult to know what else could be done. More likely they've
> already forgotten and it's less than a year. It's going to cost a fortune
> and run continuous messaging. There was far more advertising around
> seatbelts and mobile phones but that was years ago and may have short
> term effect but even those campaigns are forgotten. The only real
> solution is enforcement, ignorance is no excuse, get bad drivers off the road.

And get bad cyclists off the pavement.

--
Spike

IanMSpencer | 1587 posts | 47 min ago
1 like
Forget about cycling, the majority of drivers are incapable of driving socially and cooperatively, they are not prepared to abide by the rules of the road, or consider how to minimise nuisance, e.g. using a car park rather than blocking the road to save 30 seconds of walking.

I simply could not park on a zig-zag, and would have major angst dropping someone off on a yellow even where there was no obstruction, yet so many drivers are happy to cause chaos and danger for their own convenience.

Fill in your own list, but UK driving is very poor. Put it this way, if the majority of drivers could drive to road conditions, why have so many speed limits been reduced? Why should we even need them?

On Saturday, 28 January 2023 at 20:05:17 UTC, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> IanMSpencer | 1587 posts | 47 min ago
> 1 like
>
> Forget about cycling,

Oh that we could.

> the majority of drivers are incapable of driving socially and cooperatively, they are not prepared to abide by the rules of the road, or consider how to minimise nuisance, e.g. using a car park rather than blocking the road to save 30 seconds of walking.
>
> I simply could not park on a zig-zag,

That is extremely rare, if only due to the points it attracts. This is a classic example of a fairy-cyclist seeing what they want to see (and not what they don’t, e.g. constant misbehaviour by their fairy-cyclist brethren).

> and would have major angst dropping someone off on a yellow even where there was no obstruction,

You’re allowed to do that. But then you knew that, I’m quite sure.

> yet so many drivers are happy to cause chaos and danger for their own convenience.
>
> Fill in your own list, but UK driving is very poor. Put it this way, if the majority of drivers could drive to road conditions, why have so many speed limits been reduced? Why should we even need them?

Much of the time, they don’t need to be reduced as you very well know (and if even you know it then it must be obvious to >99% of people). I’d like to see the meltdown you’d have if unreasonable restrictions on fairy-cyclists were imposed and then justified with “We wouldn’t need to impose them if fairy-cyclists just behaved themselves in the first place!”

It’s typical Mason “logic” and double standards.

Most modern cars now have flashy touch screens. Why not have them display a couple of randomly picked multiple-choice questions about the highway code that you have to get correct before the vehicle will start?

Excellent idea - not alcohol lock but ignorance lock!

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> Most modern cars now have flashy touch screens. Why not have them display
> a couple of randomly picked multiple-choice questions about the highway
> code that you have to get correct before the vehicle will start?

> Excellent idea - not alcohol lock but ignorance lock!

We could do the same test for those wanting to take their bicycle out of a
bicycle hangar! Get a question wrong, and the hangar remains locked for 24
hours!

Even better, perform the same test for bicycles in bike-loan schemes! One
wrong answer, the bike gets locked for 24 hours!

BRING IT ON!

--
Spike

I'm wondering if getting a copy of the HC or having to do a short test everytime you bought a car/ or insured it/ or did the MOT and perhaps similar for cycles would 'force' people to be aware of it a little more. It seems that most of us cannot be bothered - I've read a lot about the changes but I can hold my hand up and say after passing my driving test in 1985, I dont think i've ever read the whole thing. I've been cycling in London since before then and although traffic is worse I do think most drivers have become much more aware of cyclists over the last ten years, partly because of the huge increase in number of riders.

On Sunday, 29 January 2023 at 11:34:14 UTC, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> I'm wondering if getting a copy of the HC or having to do a short test everytime you bought a car/ or insured it/ or did the MOT and perhaps similar for cycles would 'force' people to be aware of it a little more. It seems that most of us cannot be bothered - I've read a lot about the changes but I can hold my hand up and say after passing my driving test in 1985, I dont think i've ever read the whole thing. I've been cycling in London since before then and although traffic is worse I do think most drivers have become much more aware of cyclists over the last ten years, partly because of the huge increase in number of riders.

Citation needed. It may *seem* like there are more riders because their behaviour, and their obnoxiousness both on and off the roads, increases by the day, and they steal ever more previously useful roadspace.

Peter Granger <PeterGranger@protonmail.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, 29 January 2023 at 11:34:14 UTC, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
>> I'm wondering if getting a copy of the HC or having to do a short test
>> everytime you bought a car/ or insured it/ or did the MOT and perhaps
>> similar for cycles would 'force' people to be aware of it a little more.
>> It seems that most of us cannot be bothered - I've read a lot about the
>> changes but I can hold my hand up and say after passing my driving test
>> in 1985, I dont think i've ever read the whole thing. I've been cycling
>> in London since before then and although traffic is worse I do think
>> most drivers have become much more aware of cyclists over the last ten
>> years, partly because of the huge increase in number of riders.
>
> Citation needed. It may *seem* like there are more riders because their
> behaviour, and their obnoxiousness both on and off the roads, increases
> by the day, and they steal ever more previously useful roadspace.

According to the latest data available, cycling journeys have fallen from
3% to 2% of total journeys.

During 2021, pedal cyclist fatalities fell by 21% while pedal cyclist
traffic fell by 21%.

Pedal cycle traffic decreased on all road types between 2020 and 2021:
► Traffic on minor roads saw the biggest decrease, falling by 21.4%.
► Traffic on ‘A’ roads decreased by 16.8%.

In 2021, people cycled a total of 0.9 billion stages.

The average person in England in 2021:

made 15 cycling trips and 15 cycling stages

cycled 55 miles

spent about 7 minutes a week travelling by cycle

made 2% of all their trips by cycling

had an average trip length of 3.6 miles

covered 1% of their distance travelling by cycling

--
Spike

On 28/01/2023 08:05 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

[QUOTING:]
> Forget about cycling, the majority of drivers are incapable of driving socially and cooperatively, they are not prepared to abide by the rules of the road, or consider how to minimise nuisance, e.g. using a car park rather than blocking the road to save 30 seconds of walking.
>
> I simply could not park on a zig-zag,

Good. That's the qualified driver in you speaking. Parking on the
approach (either side) to a pedestrian crossing is a serious offence.

It's a pity that fairy-cyclists don't accept that pedestrians have
priority on such crossings.

> and would have major angst dropping someone off on a yellow even where there was no obstruction,

Than *don't*. Yellow lines do not prohibit stopping to pick up or set
down a passenger. Only very specialised forms of kerb-marking do that.

> yet so many drivers are happy to cause chaos and danger for their own convenience.

Can you pronounce "ridiculous hyperbole"?

Would you expect a taxi-driver to take you a mile past where you want to
go because there's a yellow line all the way between the two points?

> Fill in your own list, but UK driving is very poor. Put it this way, if the majority of drivers could drive to road conditions, why have so many speed limits been reduced? Why should we even need them?

Speed limits are often reduced for political reasons.

On 29/01/2023 12:26 pm, Spike wrote:
> Peter Granger <PeterGranger@protonmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, 29 January 2023 at 11:34:14 UTC, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> I'm wondering if getting a copy of the HC or having to do a short test
>>> everytime you bought a car/ or insured it/ or did the MOT and perhaps
>>> similar for cycles would 'force' people to be aware of it a little more.
>>> It seems that most of us cannot be bothered - I've read a lot about the
>>> changes but I can hold my hand up and say after passing my driving test
>>> in 1985, I dont think i've ever read the whole thing. I've been cycling
>>> in London since before then and although traffic is worse I do think
>>> most drivers have become much more aware of cyclists over the last ten
>>> years, partly because of the huge increase in number of riders.
>>
>> Citation needed. It may *seem* like there are more riders because their
>> behaviour, and their obnoxiousness both on and off the roads, increases
>> by the day, and they steal ever more previously useful roadspace.
>
> According to the latest data available, cycling journeys have fallen from
> 3% to 2% of total journeys.

And that in a situation where the total number of journeys has fallen
(working from home, furlough, etc).

> During 2021, pedal cyclist fatalities fell by 21% while pedal cyclist
> traffic fell by 21%.
>
> Pedal cycle traffic decreased on all road types between 2020 and 2021:
> ► Traffic on minor roads saw the biggest decrease, falling by 21.4%.
> ► Traffic on ‘A’ roads decreased by 16.8%.
>
> In 2021, people cycled a total of 0.9 billion stages.
>
> The average person in England in 2021:
>
> made 15 cycling trips and 15 cycling stages
>
> cycled 55 miles
>
> spent about 7 minutes a week travelling by cycle
>
> made 2% of all their trips by cycling
>
> had an average trip length of 3.6 miles
>
> covered 1% of their distance travelling by cycling
>
>

On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 11:34:14 AM UTC, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> I'm wondering if getting a copy of the HC or having to do a short test everytime you bought a car/ or insured it/ or did the MOT and perhaps similar for cycles would 'force' people to be aware of it a little more. It seems that most of us cannot be bothered - I've read a lot about the changes but I can hold my hand up and say after passing my driving test in 1985, I dont think i've ever read the whole thing. I've been cycling in London since before then and although traffic is worse I do think most drivers have become much more aware of cyclists over the last ten years, partly because of the huge increase in number of riders.

IanMSpencer replied to Global Nomad | 1589 posts | 41 sec ago
0 likes

I love reading manuals and instruction books (usually after I've worked out how things work!) so reading the HWC is a natural extension of that.

One aspect of re-reading things is that you keep discovering new things and things you've misunderstood from previous times.

As it is readily accessible online, drivists have little excuse for avoiding keeping up to date.