5 The relevance of the Highway
Code and road user behaviour
51. The overwhelming view from the evidence we
received was that aspects of poor road user behaviour lead to
increased congestion, particularly in two key respects. Firstly,
by directly causing incidents and accidents, often linked to safety
issues; and secondly, by inappropriate road use, which is not
necessarily unsafe, but which adversely affects the flow of traffic.
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft cited road rage, 'undertaking'
and bad lane discipline as all making incidents and accidents
more likely to happen, thereby adversely affecting the general
flow of traffic[96] and
Nich Brown, of the Motorcycle Action Group gave the example of
when vehicle users are told that a two-lane road will narrow into
one lane 800 metres ahead, and everyone attempts to get into the
open lane at once, instead of filtering alternatively and keeping
the traffic flowing.[97]
The Minister, Mike Penning MP, said he was concerned about how
to ensure that drivers were taught not just to pass a driving
test, but to drive responsibly:
Whether it is with young people or older people,
they should drive appropriately. Have they been educated? Do they
have the skills to do that and does the test produce that for
them? My personal view is that at the moment the test is better
than it was, but we are still teaching people to pass a test,
not giving them skills so that they do not drive inappropriately
on our roads.[98]
52. Some of the more innovative local authorities
have established road safety policies that highlight road use
behaviour. Surrey County Council, for example, highlights its
DriveSMART initiative:
We should work with and not against motorists. So
our road safety policy focuses more on helping people to be safe
rather than on penalising them for unsafe driving. We also work
closely with Surrey Police to tackle inconsiderate driving. This
includes tackling actions which might not be unsafe but which
do annoy or cause distress to residents—for example inconsiderate
parking. A couple of years ago we introduced an initiative called
DriveSMART as a joint programme with Surrey police. This aims
to improve safety and reduce inconsiderate driving mainly by education
and encouragement, although we will take enforcement action when
justified. DriveSMART includes poster campaigns and advice on
good driving.[99]
53. The DfT launched an annual £4 million
Road Safety Partnership Scheme, which invites bids from all local
highway authorities in England. The scheme promotes joint partnership
among road safety professionals, schools, the youth service, the
voluntary sector and health sector and encourages the dissemination
of best practice across local areas.
Welcome though the Road Safety Partnership Scheme undoubtedly
is, we question whether there are sufficient funds for highway
authorities to take up successful schemes more widely, especially
when road safety funds are no longer ring-fenced and local authorities
are under financial pressure. Furthermore, we again urge the Government
to prioritise work on making the driving test more rigorous, in
order to ensure that young drivers are better trained and safer.
We made recommendations on this in March of this year and our
predecessors also made recommendations in 2007. We are not persuaded
that the Government is prioritising this issue and we will return
to it in our forthcoming inquiry into the new strategic framework
for road safety.
54. The Department publishes the Highway Code,
which sets out legislation and guidance applying to all road users,
including pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motorists. We scrutinised
the role that the Highway Code could play in improving
road user behaviour. The Institute of Highway Engineers argued
that there was no problem with the contents of the Code,
but road users do not always keep up with changes to road signs,
guidance on the law after they have passed their driving test
and, as a result, "the Highway Code is ... largely
ineffective as a means of engaging with the vast majority of road
users".[100] It
is not only motorists who do not adhere to the Highway Code.
Majeed Neky of Living Streets told us about the problem of
some cyclists' road behaviour:
We would very much support the role of cycle training
and encouraging responsible cycling that meets the interests of
all road users, including pedestrians. [...] We recognise there
is a minority of cyclists who engage in antisocial cycling behaviour,
such as failing to stop at crossings, riding on pavements, etc.
We advocate vigorous and renewed enforcement of that, but we also
want to see it within the broader picture of conditions on the
roads for cyclists and pedestrians.[101]
55. Cadence Driver Development advocated a simplified
version of the Highway Code:
Much of what is written could be extracted to form
additional modules, thereby enhancing the novice driver curriculum
and could be used to form a simplified, user-friendly and pocket-sized
legal guide, with the emphasis on 'legal' as this would assist
drivers in knowing their responsibilities. It would be cost-effective
to send copies directly to schools, colleges, libraries and local
government offices. The general public could receive their copies
at the same time as their applications for a Driving Licence or
at the time of annual VED [Vehicle Excise Duty] renewal. [102]
Evidence from ITS UK also suggested ways of making
the Highway Code more relevant:
It needs to be disseminated and generally publicised
in a way that it is seen as having direct and immediate relevance
on a daily basis. The use of web, 'podcast', 'apps', and other
'new media 'should be considered in the dissemination of such
messages.[103]
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website
is the first port of call for anyone renewing their car tax disc
and for applying or renewing their driving licence. While there
are direct links to sites including 'Direct Gov', 'Think! Road
Safety' and the Department's own website, there is no link to
the Highway Code website. Such a link would be simple to
include and would reach a large number of road users.
56. The Department for Transport
should take steps to make the Highway Code more readily
available to all road users, in particular more experienced drivers
and cyclists. The Government should work with the various road
user groups to promote better adherence to the Highway Code.
The DVLA website should clearly link to the Highway Code,
for all those applying for or renewing a driving licence. A leaflet
drawing attention to the Code, highlighting any recent changes,
should be posted to drivers with tax disk or licence renewal letters
and other correspondence. The Department should consider options
for a free Highway Code 'App', which gives useful and new
information about The Highway Code, and other ways in which new
communication media could be utilised for this purpose. These
cost-effective recommendations would go a long way to disseminate
information included in the Highway Code and help improve
driver behaviour.
96 Ev 50 Back
97
Ev 4 Back
98
Ev 67 Back
99
Ev 97 Back
100
Ev 107 Back
101
Ev 8 Back
102
Ev 184 Back
103
Ev 83 Back
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