Morris Minor Owners Club

Am I right in thinking that the Highway Code is civil law, and not criminal law?

ie, you can get caught parking on double yellow lines every day of your life, but will never go to prison for it.

No, the Highway Code is a vade mecum to the various motoring laws plus a large dollop of sage advice on various aspects of motoring, cycling, and, er, pedestering.
It mentions various motoring offences which are not criminal but stil get you fined and pointed.

I heard this morning that, with what appears to be a complete lack of publicity, the code has been updated. One thing that was mentioned was that if you come to a junction when driving, and a pedestrian is waiting to cross, then the driver has to give way, just as if the pedestrian had already started to cross the road. I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with that, it's just an example of a change. I am surprised that there hasn't been more mention of a revised code - how can anyone learn it if they don't know that it exists? The new code is supposed to be more in favour of pedestrians, cyclists and horses and their riders. Another example is increased clearance when passing such users of the highway.

I think changes like that are best not publicised! Pedestrians will be walking into the roads like lemmings.

Alan

Other changes include cyclists being encouraged to cycle in the middle of the lane, instead of sticking to the left; and the fact that even if a dedicated cycle lane has been provided, cyclists are not obliged to use it.

Madness.

Pedestrians will be walking into the roads like lemmings.

They already do anyway in some places.....

The more concerning one is that cyclists are now allowed to cycle two abreast, for their own safety........
All this will do is encourage more arrogance and stupidity on their part.....
But, of course, the motorist is always to blame.
Personally I will endeavour to exercise common sense, which means I will give way only if it is okay to do so.
Not if I will get a car up my rear end as a result!
As far as I am concerned pedestrians should be encouraged to wait until the road is clear and safe to cross.
Not to be encouraged to think they have some God given right under any circumstances!
Best wishes,
Mike.

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:51 am Other changes include cyclists being encouraged to cycle in the middle of the lane, instead of sticking to the left; and the fact that even if a dedicated cycle lane has been provided, cyclists are not obliged to use it.

Madness.

sounds correct to me - the whole concept of car owners paying for the roads, and therefore deserving the space, is a fallacy. dedicated cycle lanes can also not be fit for purpose, and more dangerous than the road, in some places. I don't have a problem with cyclists doing either things.

jagnut66 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:09 pm

Pedestrians will be walking into the roads like lemmings.

They already do anyway in some places.....

The more concerning one is that cyclists are now allowed to cycle two abreast, for their own safety........
All this will do is encourage more arrogance and stupidity on their part.....
But, of course, the motorist is always to blame.
Personally I will endeavour to exercise common sense, which means I will give way only if it is okay to do so.
Not if I will get a car up my rear end as a result!
As far as I am concerned pedestrians should be encouraged to wait until the road is clear and safe to cross.
Not to be encouraged to think they have some God given right under any circumstances!
Best wishes,
Mike.

it cuts both ways for me. Just because we're on the road in our cars, doesn't mean we should receive right of way. a large chunk of fellow drivers assert that because of fuel duty & VED (not applicable for we morris owners of course) that they "pay for the roads" - this isn't necessarily the case, and a high earning cyclist or pedestrian could be paying significantly more towards road maintenance than someone who happens to be driving a car on it.

Also and increasingly (I suspect) many cyclists are also car owners/drivers and are therefore paying their share of VED. It's a complicated world really.

I read somewhere that metalled roads were first made for cyclists, before cars were even invented.

A friends' daughter thought she had done a perfect driving test, but the examiner told her he had noted down 8 minor faults. Apparently 8 times during the test, the passenger side door mirror had strayed into a cycle lane.

Trouble is we're not considered or allowed to have common sense anymore - it went out of favour years ago, no need for it now.
I was taught how to safely cross the road and how to ride a bike safely. It's worked for me all these years as I can cross roads without causing drama and having the sense not to ride on the inside of slow moving or stationary vehicles.
World's gone mad and progressively getting worse.

Alan

I’m wondering if you can actually teach common sense, or if it’s something you’ve either got or haven’t got.
I do think it’s no longer common though. I suppose that’s why some of these new rules are considered necessary,
Fancy needing to be told to give a wide berth when passing a horse ! ———but that’s what it’s come to now.

From midnight tonight..

Will anything change for me as a pedestrian (top priority) regarding cyclists and e-scooters illegally using my pavement? Probably not.

Will anything change for car drivers once cyclists start handing in helmet cam footage to police, of car drivers being nasty to them for riding in the middle of the lane, or choosing not to use the dedicated cycle lane? Probably.

Time will tell.

It's all very well changing the rules but it's not very well communicated to those that need to know about them?
Didn't we ought to get a letter from DVLA advising of the changes, like we do with changed conditions of bank accounts.

Alan

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:47 am
Will anything change for me as a pedestrian (top priority) regarding cyclists and e-scooters illegally using my pavement? Probably not.

Not forgetting the fact that, aside from the illegally used personal scooters, some if not all of these official trial systems allow the scooter to be abandoned anywhere, because the App allows someone to find their nearest one.
When I go to visit my son who lives on the outskirts of Northampton, the damn orange scooters are abandoned all over the place with their little green lamp flashing.
Then of course, there's the shop delivery Robots trying to cross roads or get up kerbs....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MufmNWGVUQw

Then of course, there's the shop delivery Robots trying to cross roads or get up kerbs....

I was waiting for its signal to fail or a car to smash into it.........
Looks like a mobile hazard to me......

Will anything change for car drivers once cyclists start handing in helmet cam footage to police, of car drivers being nasty to them for riding in the middle of the lane, or choosing not to use the dedicated cycle lane? Probably.

And then the cyclists will be left wondering why drivers attitudes towards them have suddenly got worse instead of better.......
Best wishes,
Mike.

One of the new rules is that car drivers must give way to pedestrians waiting to cross at junctions, even if they have not stepped out onto the road.

A friend told me yesterday that in his part of town, young men are throwing themselves on car bonnets at junctions, and 'doing the dying fly' in order to try to get a pay-out.

He has fitted a dash cam just in case they try it on him.

A friend told me yesterday that in his part of town, young men are throwing themselves on car bonnets at junctions, and 'doing the dying fly' in order to try to get a pay-out.

So these new laws encourage the morons in our society, now there's a surprise..........

Best wishes,
Mike.

The code now says you should give way to pedestrians waiting to cross at a junction. It doesn’t say you must. That language is significant. You cannot be penalised for not giving way to a pedestrian waiting to cross.

Circumstances will dictate whether I choose to or not. So, no change there then.