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
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