Following a 12 week public consultation in 2020 to improve road safety for vulnerable road users, there have been several updates to the Highway Code1 that have now come into effect (as of 29 January 2022).
The public consultation by the Department for Transport (DfT) received more than 20,000 responses (the result of which can be found on the Dft website1), from a variety of stakeholders, including public, businesses and government. The main changes to the code are around the hierarchy of road users, clarifying existing rules on pedestrians and guidance on passing distances and speeds when driving around cyclists and horse riders.
These are welcome changes to ensure the safety of all road users, especially as we see more, and a wider range, of the population take up cycling, the Code must adapt to the times. According to National Travel Survey (NTS)2, cycling trips increased to 20 trips per person, a 26% increase compared to 2019 (16 trips per person) and a 13% increase since 2002 (18 trips per person).
As experts in providing highway, infrastructure, traffic and transportation services, the teams at NRP are already adapting to these new updates to the Highway Code to ensure our clients can deliver safe and effective transport solutions. Our traffic and transportation team has considerable experience in undertaking a diverse range of urban and inter-urban traffic engineering, traffic modelling and transport planning projects, and we have a proven track record of developing innovative, effective and sustainable solutions to complex and high-profile traffic and transportation challenges.
The DfT has highlighted on their website3 eight key changes which you need to know from 29 January 2022, with which we would highly recommend making yourself familiar.
