Highway Code: How the update could improve road safety

Dangerous driving has been illegal for almost a century - since the Road Traffic Act of 1930, in fact - nevertheless, many UK drivers still regularly break the rules.

A BBC Panorama investigation recently revealed the fatality rate on our roads is on the rise for the first time in 40 years, even though there have been huge advances in vehicle safety technology over the last two decades.

Safety groups say UK drivers routinely ignore the rules because they know they can get away with it.

However, changes in the language of The Highway Code, which come in to force from 29 January, may be about to drive a change.

The adjustments mean a driver is now more likely to be penalised for putting other road users in harm's way - especially if they are caught on camera.

Drivers of large vehicles must now recognise they pose the greatest threat of harm to smaller vehicles, horse riders, cyclists and pedestrians, according to the updated rule book.

Nothing is changing in the legislation - what's being included is clarification. In previous Highway Code editions, drivers were cautioned to be aware of vulnerable road users - now they must put them first.

For example, rule H3 tells motorists: "You should not cut across cyclists, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles going ahead when you are turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane, just as you would not turn across the path of another motor vehicle.

"This applies whether they are using a cycle lane, a cycle track or riding ahead on the road, and you should give way to them."

Cyclists call this move the 'left hook', when a driver overtakes them on the right, then immediately turns left across them. The wording change in the code means now if a cyclist is able to record this move on camera, the chances of successfully prosecuting the driver have just increased.

Detective Chief Superintendent 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. "It's a game changing moment. The police can't be everywhere all the time but the public can be."

He says he has seen first-hand how effective using cameras can be in curbing bad driving, and that in London "we were enforcing about two-thirds of all submissions".

Those enforcements can mean anything from fixed penalty notices, with points on your driving license and fines, through to suspended jail sentences. He is clear that he thinks vulnerable road users being able to submit evidence of bad driving will change driver behaviour.

"Some cyclists told me they'd had a close pass, they'd had their footage referred to us, and then they'd seen the same vehicle again but [it gave] them more space [next time]," says Det Ch Superintendent Cox.

"The guidance is a bit clearer than it was before. And, in that sense, perhaps it would assist the police in situations where they might want to prosecute, because it makes the obligations slightly clearer," agrees Stuart Kightley, a personal injury lawyer with Osborne's in London.

However, news of the code update earlier in January met with consternation from some drivers on Twitter criticising the Department for Transport (DfT) for not publicising it more widely.

Trudy Harrison parliamentary under-secretary of state at the DfT has said there will be a broader "behaviour change campaign" later in the year.

The DfT says it has set up a working group of key organisations to ensure details of the changes are spread as widely as possible, supported by its existing THINK! road safety campaign.

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

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, "before this, we were the forgotten part of the vulnerable road user group".

He says: "Rather than saying 'pass wide and slow', this time the Highway Code says 'pass horses at a max of 10mph and give them 2m' - now there are definitive things drivers can refer to."

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

Mr Hiscox says it is up to the individual horse rider to decide whether to wear a helmet camera, or not, but he points out that video evidence does help support any police investigation into a traffic incident.

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

He says: "Driving is habitual, and it's hard to change habitual behaviour.

But on a more positive note he adds that raising awareness of the rules and "knowing that you're more likely to be caught" will be important in driving change.

Cameras can be expensive: to be effective they must be small enough for a bike, or helmet, but capable of picking out number plates, often at high speed and in low light.

Riders complain, too, that it should not be down to them to cover the additional cost of this tech, when it is drivers' responsibility to keep them safe in the first place.

"Cameras are great for gathering evidence, but I got into cycling to relax, not to spend my time submitting police reports" says father-of-two, Nigel Roe, who lives in Manchester.

After an aggressive "road rage" incident with a driver a couple of years ago he developed PassPixis. It's a lightweight badge that can be fixed to a jacket, or bag, that tells drivers behind they are being filmed, even if they're not.

"I tried using a cheap action camera but it soon became clear they're just not visible enough for drivers to take notice. It really doesn't act as a deterrent to bad driving."

Since Mr Roe developed PassPixis, he says he has only made two police reports: "I used to find myself bellowing at drivers five times every 20 miles. Now I regard it as a bad ride if I do it once."

Despite this apparent success, and the update to the code, Mr Roe still resents having to use the threat of legal action to keep himself safe.

"It's a bit depressing it takes a camera sign to make drivers modify their behaviour," he says. "That tells me they are more concerned with their licences than the fact they could be putting other human beings at risk."