I've noticed some highway code changes that may happen. One of the changes seems to be a 'simple' rule where you have priority if you're going straight ahead. Here's a youtube video that explains it youtu.be/nCU-cDOcRIE. I'm wondering whether it really is 'simple' and whether it's a completely crazy idea.

Based on my understanding, we'll be asking cyclists to undertake cars when they are about to turn left ??. I don't cycle, but if I did then I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.

If this is a simple rule then it would also apply equally to motorcyclists. So a motorcyclist would be expected to overtake a car when it's waiting to turn right? Surely this can't be right?

I can see these changes leading to a lot of collisions, but maybe I've misunderstood it (but that would mean it's not as 'simple' as they say). Does anybody think it's a good idea?

What a daft idea, not many stick to the rules/highway code as it is and imo this will cause accidents , I wonder who thought this one up?

Last time I looked at the highway code was just before I passed my test in 1971.

When my kids were learning, they critised my use of changing down the gears to use engine braking as I approach a junction or roundabout, apparently they were taught to dip the clutch and decrease speed using the footbrake alone. Not sure if this is driving school or highway code twaddle, but I haven't changed my habits as I still remember cars in the 70's with less than brilliant brakes.

Several years ago I got pulled in Poland for driving with foglights on at night, it was raining and visibility was very poor on the smooth surface road which had virtually no discernable white lining and as usual for a Polish minor road no defined side kerb/marking, just a ditch. I pleaded ignorance of Polish highway code (kodex drogowa) claiming in the UK it was allowed in poor visibility (tongue in cheek). He also didnt like why I had part of my headlights masked off, no idea we drive on the left in the UK. In the end, at a loss what to do, he just told me to get a copy of the polish highway code and perhaps read it while lying in bed next to my darling wife.

Which I did not before you ask......

When turning right/left, I adapt to my surroundings, read the minds of other road users and then decide which of the 4 or 5 options to take. Look ahead, mirror, signal, check blindspots, mirror, look ahead (repeat if necessary) finally manouver or something like that.

Highway code may be backed in places by law, but it is not law, and doesn't trump common sense.

The highway code does get updated time to time. Someone told me you can register for email updates.

www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/changes-and-answers/the-hi...s

There is a downloadable copy of the Highway code (dated 2019).

(I don't know if this is an official web site, as it is n't .gov.uk).

That's a terrible video from CyclingUK. I can't believe anybody intends that the cyclist should undertake the left-turning car while it waits for the ped to cross.

There is also repeated use of the term "right of way". There is really no such thing in this context, only "priority", and the HC doesn't use the term IIRC.

There is an ongoing consultation which I suggest is what to look at for anybody who wants to go to the source. You can also have your say.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upload...f

Even the consultation uses "right of way" although not in the proposed HC wording which was probably written by somebody who actually knows what it means.

The new rule isn't 'asking' cyclists to pass vehicles indicting left on the left or motorcyclists to pass vehicles indicating right on the right. Should a cyclist or motorcyclist do this however, the driver would be expected to give way. It's all ready the case that pedestrians going straight ahead across a side road have prioirty over any vehicles turning into the side road and this is just extending that priority to cyclists. It's already the rule in most of Europe.

I do agree though that for a cyclist to pass a vehicle (particularly an HGV) which is indicating to turn and is about to do so would be foolhardy. It's much safer to always pass vehicles on the opposite side to the direction they are indicating. Sometimes drivers don't indicate until the last seond (or not at all) though!

IMHO the driver of the "stronger" vehicle has a moral duty to watch out for the "weaker" one and try not to squash them like a fly. The lorry driver vis a vis the car driver, motorist - cyclist, cyclist - pedestrian. I have never turned left or (in Europe) right at a junction without first glancing over my shoulder to look out for cyclists. I remember kicking myself during my driving test when I once pulled away with a glance in the mirror and only a cursory look behind to check the road is clear, rather than a full swivel, and I made a mental note never to omit that again, as long as my neck muscles continue to work!
The motorcyclist's "lifesaver" is absolutely essential, as no amount of mirrors or blind spot warning devices or anything else can possibly see as well as a human eye. There's no excuse for a "SMIDSY"!
There are some interesting "default" driving rules here in Spain, and one of those is that at a junction, the vehicle going straight has priority over the one turning, and the right turner has priority over the left turner (opposite to the UK) when two cars are both turning into a perpendicular road. Similarly, at any unmarked junction, priority is to the vehicle on the right by default. A curious rule is that failure to indicate a turning or overtaking manoeuvre, even on an apparently empty road, is a fineable offence and most people outside Madrid follow that one.

Edited by Bilboman on 28/08/2021 at 19:25

Darwin was hard at work here and nearly claimed another one on the streets of Barcelona. The obvious point is that the skater whizzed through a red light, so the fact that the bus was "going straight" and the skater "round a/the bend" was neither here nor there. But as heart stopping moments go, this one is pretty scary! bit.ly/2WLdKpN

Edited by Bilboman on 01/09/2021 at 20:17