[Simon_MacMichael]

I was at the football in south London with a friend on Saturday, both of us cycle as our everyday way of getting around, and out of the blue he asked me, “Have you noticed drivers getting way more aggressive in the past few weeks?”

I said, “Could be, what with the Highway Code changes and all the misreporting around them in the press,” and he looked at me blankly.

“What Highway Code changes?” he said.

So after castigating him for not reading road.cc, I explained them to him and also some of the inaccurate and divisive coverage we’ve seen in the mainstream media, and he said,  “Yup, that would do it.”

That got me thinking – more than four weeks on from the changes, what is other people’s experience? Have you noticed drivers following the revised rules, ignoring them, or becoming more aggressive? Let us know …

Topic

[quiff]

As a pedestrian, I don’t know

As a pedestrian, I don’t know if more people are giving me priority willingly, but that’s partly because I’ve been emboldened in taking it (i.e. looking, crossing, but still being prepared to stop for a wrong-un). However, I also have a young child who is currently learning how to cross roads – I’m not teaching this method!     

[quiff]

Still, a sarcastic but safe

Still, a sarcastic but safe pass would be an improvement for a lot of drivers.

[chrisonabike]

Lance Strongarm wrote:

Lance Strongarm wrote:

Honestly, I thought the changes would increase tensions between different modes of transport, but in practice (anecdotally) there has been zero change. KSI numbers will reveal whether the changes have had a positive or negative effect overall.

Well we can all have our assumptions challenged. Feels good to ‘fess up to that if you can though (never easy even for the most modest), so have a point.

I obviously hope the KSI numbers will go down.  However let’s see.  I think it would be fair to give this some time before pronouncing.  Also sadly I doubt we’re keeping a specific check on the effects.  We don’t gather particularly good statistics on the roads, not ones that are terribly useful for improving safety rather than shrugging our shoulders or congratulating ourselves.  Very few places do.

Since most of this was just reinforcing what careful – and courteous – drivers (and cyclists) should be doing anyway I suspect the effect is likely to be rather small.  No doubt the reckless will go on as before*. Even with all the publicity because outrage I’m not sure how much additional awareness most people have got.

* I’ve never been sure how much of the carnage can be attributed to “wrong ‘uns” and how much is what you’d expect when you have a large chunk of the population habitually doing a dangerous activity. Especially one which has been normalised to be casual and commonplace.  Also noting we’ve stopped at a rather low level with our safety measures provided by infrastructure and rules. For me I’d split things as the “completely illegal” vs. the rest e.g. medically unfit, using vehicle for crime, drunk / high, unlicenced,  untaxed / illegally modified vehicle, totally outrageous driving e.g. way over speed limit, driving wrong way round roundabout etc. and serial traffic offenders (didn’t change). Arbitrary and I know there’s a lower level of illegal e.g. speeding, phone use, general lack of care and attention which can be equally deadly.

[wycombewheeler]

hirsute wrote:

I find more drivers are waiting and not overtaking and overtakes are also better.

The alleged rear ending at junctions has not materialised.

amazing really.

Just like it never used to happen when people had to wait to turn right ebcause of oncoming traffic

[wycombewheeler]

Porky PT wrote:

Last week a bloke in a pick-up drove past me at a slow-ish rate observing the 1.5m rule (and maybe a bit more), while at the same time shouting through the lowered passenger window: “that alright mate?!” in what sounded like a sarcastic manner. He didn’t wait for a response.  Make of that what you will.

The day after the new rules came in, a BMW passed me (good wide pass fully on the other side of the road) then screamed move over you c*** through the open window (past his 10? year odl son.

I was riding secondary at most, and he was not delayed for even a second.

[Porky PT]

Last week a bloke in a pick

Last week a bloke in a pick-up drove past me at a slow-ish rate observing the 1.5m rule (and maybe a bit more), while at the same time shouting through the lowered passenger window: “that alright mate?!” in what sounded like a sarcastic manner. He didn’t wait for a response.  Make of that what you will.

[Awavey]

I’d say no I dont think it
I’d say no I dont think it has, with the caveat it still feels too early to judge if people are responding to the changes,or just the publicity, or some 3rd outside factor we havent accounted for.

I think anecdotally those that were cautious drivers anyway are simply being more cautious at the moment, to the point they are increasingly becoming annoying with it as they become too cautious. Those that arent are simply driving as they were before. I’ve not encountered anyone being overly aggressive of late,even if many still do daft and dangerous things.

But its a complex interaction because the drivers you meet are a factor of where you ride & when,which can be decided by weather or boredom or just how you feel that day, I can go on many loops & meet barely any driver and think all in the world is marvellous, and then do the same loop the next week and feel everyone is out to kill me.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I thought the
Honestly, I thought the changes would increase tensions between different modes of transport, but in practice (anecdotally) there has been zero change.

KSI numbers will reveal whether the changes have had a positive or negative effect overall.

[mdavidford]

As a pedestrian, I’ve had a

As a pedestrian, I’ve had a number of occasions where a driver has waited patiently for me to cross a side road, where previously daring to set foot on the road would have been met with at least an angry stare and possibly a blast on the horn as they brushed past my nose. It was quite disconcerting the first couple of times.

[wtjs]

In Lancashire there has been
In Lancashire there has been no change because drivers here know that Lancashire Constabulary has no record of paying attention to the old Highway Code, never mind any pinko Namby Pamby so-called Rule Changes which they don’t accept

[Hirsute]

I find more drivers are

I find more drivers are waiting and not overtaking and overtakes are also better.

The alleged rear ending at junctions has not materialised.

[HoarseMann]

I think it’s had a bit of a

I think it’s had a bit of a polarising effect. The cautious majority have become even more careful, but the reckless idiots seem to be emboldened to drive closer and faster than before.

In the last month, I’ve had two drivers angrily beep at me for absolutely no reason other than I was on the road ahead of them. One then swerved to side-swipe me whilst holding down the horn (police report submitted – I must chase it up!).

[Author]

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