Government urged to rethink road safety four years after changes to Highway Code

New Highway Code rules came into force on 29 January 2022 – four years ago today. The aim was to make our roads safer for vulnerable road users. However, without effective communication of the changes, we can’t expect people to follow them.

The changes were meant to mark a significant shift in road behaviour across Britain. The updated Highway Code introduced the hierarchy of road users, strengthened guidance on safely overtaking cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians, promoted the ‘Dutch Reach’ to reduce car-dooring incidents, and clarified priorities at junctions to improve safety for people cycling and walking.

A short-lived awareness campaign run by THINK – the government body responsible for promoting road safety – was seen as a good first step in communicating these changes. However, more needs to be done to ensure people know the rules have changed and to address entrenched behaviours. Additionally, THINK! has been cut by two-thirds since 2019, at a time when road danger remains a real concern.

Cycling UK is calling on the government to reverse cuts and fund a new THINK!-style campaign, updated for today’s digital landscape to raise awareness of the new rules. We believe that an awareness campaign is crucial to the government’s own ‘safe systems approach’ to road safety, which ministers have committed to as part of the new Road Safety Strategy published on 7 January.

This call has been backed by MPs during a parliamentary debate this week on women’s safety while walking, wheeling and cycling.

With concern growing as to whether updates are fully understood, the government’s Road Safety Strategy highlighted the importance of a ‘lifelong-learning approach’, suggesting the need for a major road safety awareness campaign.

DfT figures show that while cycling has increased by over a third since 2004, progress on safety has stalled in recent years. For example, serious injuries remain persistently high, despite cycling fatalities having fallen in the long term. In 2024, 82 people riding bikes died in collisions, with more than 3,800 being involved in an incident that left them seriously injured.

Sarah McMonagle, Director of External Affairs at Cycling UK, said: “We can’t expect people to follow rules they don’t know about. What we need is a balanced approach to improving road safety that combines education, prevention and enforcement of the rules. It’s important we clearly explain why these changes came into action and how they work to protect people walking to the shops or cycling their children to school.”

Reporting systems for careless and dangerous driving, including close passes, are vital, but enforcement and education need to run side by side.

Steve Cox is a 70-year-old retiree from Bristol who counted almost 60 experiences of drivers overtaking him too closely just last year. He commented: “I think the updates to the Highway Code are great because they’ve given people more confidence to cycle because of things like the hierarchy of road users, but not enough people know about it.  

“I don’t use the bike to get to work anymore because I’m retired, but I do use it to run errands or enjoy some leisure time outside. It’s a great way to keep fit later in life, but we need to make it safer for everyone. If it isn’t seen to be safe for children to walk or cycle to school because of behaviour on our roads, then we need to address it head on. It’s a freedom I enjoyed as a kid that fewer children seem to have access to today.”

“While we do need action to be taken when people ignore the rules on how much room to give when overtaking, we also need to educate people on why it’s important to give people on bikes 1.5 metres of space. That’s the missing piece of the road safety puzzle.”