Highway Code cracked

Following a high-profile campaign by CTC, the UK¹s national cyclists' organisation, the Government has agreed to amend the Highway Code to improve cyclists¹ safety and to encourage drivers to take more care around vulnerable road users.

In total over 40 rules in the Highway Code have been changed to the benefit of cyclists and will come into effect this summer.

Last year, the Department for Transport proposed a revised version of the Highway Code. Cyclists feared that this version contained rules which would see them held partly liable if hit by a driver while not using a cycle lane or cycle track. 11,000 people contacted their MPs, 20,000 signed an online petition and a cross-party coalition in both Houses of Parliament defended cyclists' right to cycle on the road.

CTC campaigner, Richard George, said "We're delighted that the Minister has decided to make these changes to the Highway Code; it now makes clear that cyclists have every right to be on the road. Following some intensive negotiations the Department for Transport has listened to cyclists, and this new version is a definite improvement."

"We'd like to thank DfT officials for listening to our concerns, the MPs and Lords who supported us in Parliament and most of all the tens of thousands of cyclists who took part, lobbied and supported us".

The DfT is to conduct a short stakeholder-only consultation to confirm that all parties are happy with the final wording. CTC will be pressing for a couple of changes to tidy up the final version, and is asking cyclists to sign an online petition to show their support.

The petition will be available at www.ctc.org.uk/campaigns