Road Hierarchy Law Change
The new laws surrounding road hierarchy will come into action later this week.
The new changes to the Highway Code will kick in over the weekend, giving more priority to pedestrians and cyclists. This means that other road users have more responsibility to behave safely on the roads to protect those that are more vulnerable. The rule of thumb will be the bigger you are, the more responsibility you have. This will apply when assessing who is at fault in the case of an accident.
What is the New Hierarchy?
The new hierarchy of road users is:
- Pedestrians
- Cyclists
- Horse Riders
- Motorcyclists
- Cars/Taxis
- Vans/Minibusses
- Larger vehicles such as HGVs and buses
What Does the Law Actually Say?
The Government announced these changes in December last year. They will come into action from Saturday 29th January.
This will see Rule H1, Rule H2, and Rule H3 updated to the new regulations. All these changes aim to improve the safety of the most at-risk road users. They also aim to clarify some of the current Highway Code rules. This means changing what was before worded as a “safe distance” to a specific distance.
The changes to Rule H2 mean that cars will now have to stop when they see a pedestrian waiting at a zebra crossing. Before, drivers only had to stop if the pedestrian was already on the crossing. The new rule to the Highway code will read:
“At a junction, you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning.”
The Rule H3 change will also give more priority to cyclists. Drivers are now encouraged to treat cyclists similarly to how they would treat other cars. Drivers must now give at least 1.5 meters of space when overtaking. But this distance increases when travelling at 30mph or more. Cyclists are now also advised to ride in the middle of the road, especially when approaching junctions. This will improve their line of sight and visibility to oncoming traffic.
Comment
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said:
“The Department has established a working group of key organizations to ensure that messages about the changes are as widespread as possible.”
How Can We Help?
Road safety is a priority for us at Cambrian Fuel Card Services. Our cutting-edge telematics solutions offer your fleets the latest in fleet road safety. Our FORS camera solutions offer a 360 view of inside and outside the vehicle. This can help track your fleet’s safety and assess who is at fault in the case of an accident. Our live tracing system shows the fleet manager exactly where and how your fleets are driving. This shows you data on driving behaviours including speed and rapid breaking.
For more information about our range of telematics solutions visit www.cambriancards.com/telematics or call us free on 0800 6126132
Road Hierarchy Law Change
