Changes to the Highway Code

If you’re a cyclist, you’ll want to go here and probably also to fill out the petition and post it off. Do it now – it has to be received by Thursday morning if it’s to be any use. It has to be in hard copy, but it will be used by an MP on Thursday to oppose the new regulations.

Sorry for the late notice – I only heard about the petition today from Dave at CartoonChurch. The problem is that the UK Government is changing the Highway Code, and some of the changes will make life rather more dangerous for cyclists. The new regulations change the wording in a subtle but crucial way – cyclists would now have to use cycle lanes “where possible” rather than the old “where practicable”. The problem is that there are some truly awful and dangerous “cycle lanes” around the country. There’s one here in Cambridge that is famously only 8 inches wide, and runs down the middle of a very busy road between two lanes of traffic. The new regulations would require all cyclists on that road to use it – despite its danger (it’s nowhere near wide enough, for a start), whereas the older version left the judgement of whether to use it to the cyclist.

The other thing that concerns me about this is the roundabouts – the new regulations would require cyclists to be in the left-hand (outer) lane, regardless of which exit you want to use. There are lots of roundabouts whose left-hand lanes funnel all traffic down the first exit – not good if you’re wanting to turn right! And, either way, if you’re cycling on a roundabout and wanting to turn right, you do not want to be sideswiped by a car. Having the right to position yourself on the road so as to avoid this danger is surely something that should not be eroded.

There’s also an electronic petition, which is worth signing, but the print one is more urgent. It would also be useful to contact your MP to ask them to support Thursday’s motion.

For more information about the regulations, look here and for examples of why cycle lanes aren’t always useful, look here.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 3:49pm on 15 May 2007
Category: General, Links, Life, Politics