Hierarchy of Road Users - 29th January 2022

Nofinway

It seems to have received very little publicity from official channels and reports are that many people are completely unaware. I've just done a quick search on this forum and there's not too much on here either.

Who's aware of the changes which are about to come into force on the 29th January 2022!

Car_54

Judging by many questions asked on this forum, a sizable proportion of road users are unaware of the existing Highway Code, never mind the new one.

facade

There have been a couple of threads on it.

The way the media is talking, you'd think that we can go out and run over pedestrians and cyclists whenever we want until the end of January, and only have to bother looking out for them from that date!

Amazing that people actually need things spelling out like "don't cut up or knock cyclists off on islands" and "don't turn into a junction on 2 wheels scattering pedestrians" 

MattMattMattUK

Car_54 said:

Judging by many questions asked on this forum, a sizable proportion of road users are unaware of the existing Highway Code, never mind the new one.

I agree, on my drive into work this morning, vans in the outside lane of the motorway, many vehicles exceeding 70mph on the motorway by a considerable amount, people on handheld phones, people stopping on box junctions, people driving through red lights. 

It appears that post-lockdown many people lost the ability to drive in compliance with the rules, their ability to understand the stupid changes to right of way rules is going to be zero. 

Grumpy_chap

Nofinway said:

It seems to have received very little publicity from official channels and reports are that many people are completely unaware. I've just done a quick search on this forum and there's not too much on here either.

Who's aware of the changes which are about to come into force on the 29th January 2022!

Here are two recent thread the OP may consider:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6320770/change-in-the-law-be-careful-when-turning-into-a-road#latest

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78899501#Comment_78899501

In the mean-time, I'll be following this guidance and trying to secure as many points as I can:

facade said:

The way the media is talking, you'd think that we can go out and run over pedestrians and cyclists whenever we want until the end of January, and only have to bother looking out for them from that date!

Jokes aside, I have noticed drivers being more "give-way" minded, especially buses (maybe they had some staff briefings) and, actually find it quite annoying for a car to stop for me where it would be smoother and safer all round if the car just we nt on past and I crossed in the  gap behind anyway.

Ganga

MattMattMattUK said:

Car_54 said:

Judging by many questions asked on this forum, a sizable proportion of road users are unaware of the existing Highway Code, never mind the new one.

I agree, on my drive into work this morning, vans in the outside lane of the motorway, many vehicles exceeding 70mph on the motorway by a considerable amount, people on handheld phones, people stopping on box junctions, people driving through red lights. 

It appears that post-lockdown many people lost the ability to drive in compliance with the rules, their ability to understand the stupid changes to right of way rules is going to be zero. 

I think this more down to the fact there seems to be less police cars on the roads these days or it looks that way round where i live.

ArchLen

Driving standards in the UK have been on the decline for many years now.  The blame for this lies squarely with the DVSA and lack of police presence.  The driving test is woefully easy to pass, many errors that should be considered a failure are merely considered a minor fault, and the police presence on the road has been decimated by years and years of government culls.

ontheroad1970

ArchLen said:

Driving standards in the UK have been on the decline for many years now.  The blame for this lies squarely with the DVSA and lack of police presence.  The driving test is woefully easy to pass, many errors that should be considered a failure are merely considered a minor fault, and the police presence on the road has been decimated by years and years of government culls.

The test is quite a lot harder than it used to be.  I wonder how many drivers commenting that passed their tests many moons ago believe that it was easier to pass now than say 25 years ago.  

Ectophile

ArchLen said:

Driving standards in the UK have been on the decline for many years now.  The blame for this lies squarely with the DVSA and lack of police presence.  The driving test is woefully easy to pass, many errors that should be considered a failure are merely considered a minor fault, and the police presence on the road has been decimated by years and years of government culls.

So what's new? When I took my test about 39 years ago, we were allowed a few minor mistakes. You would only fail for a major error, or too many minor ones.

ArchLen

Ectophile said:

ArchLen said:

Driving standards in the UK have been on the decline for many years now.  The blame for this lies squarely with the DVSA and lack of police presence.  The driving test is woefully easy to pass, many errors that should be considered a failure are merely considered a minor fault, and the police presence on the road has been decimated by years and years of government culls.

So what's new? When I took my test about 39 years ago, we were allowed a few minor mistakes. You would only fail for a major error, or too many minor ones.

What's "new" is that the traffic volume on the roads has increased exponentially since then, and what was once a fail on a driving test is now considered a pass.  So the test is easier, and therefore drivers have lower standards when they start out, those standards only declining further when picking up the usual bad habits. 

Car_54

ArchLen said:

Ectophile said:

ArchLen said:

Driving standards in the UK have been on the decline for many years now.  The blame for this lies squarely with the DVSA and lack of police presence.  The driving test is woefully easy to pass, many errors that should be considered a failure are merely considered a minor fault, and the police presence on the road has been decimated by years and years of government culls.

So what's new? When I took my test about 39 years ago, we were allowed a few minor mistakes. You would only fail for a major error, or too many minor ones.

What's "new" is that the traffic volume on the roads has increased exponentially since then, and what was once a fail on a driving test is now considered a pass.  So the test is easier, and therefore drivers have lower standards when they start out, those standards only declining further when picking up the usual bad habits. 

Hasn't the increased volume of traffic in itself made the test harder?
Can you give some examples of things that were once a fail but now a pass?