'Change of culture' begins this weekend on the roads
Changes to the Highway code come into force this weekend
Cycling groups hope this weekend will see the start of a change of culture on UK roads as a new 'hierarchy of road users' comes into force.
While most campaigners do not expect a sudden overnight difference, many hope the change in emphasis - explicitly protecting vulnerable road users - will result in a long-term change in attitudes as the new rules are incorporated into road safety training.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "The hierarchy places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy. It does not remove the need for everyone to behave responsibly."
A spokesperson for Cycling UK added: "For the avoidance of doubt, the rule change doesn’t remove that individual responsibility, it just places greater responsibility on those who can cause the greatest harm, and why wouldn’t you want that?"
"Linking the degree of responsibility to the risk presented to others is a step towards thinking about road danger reduction - rather than more traditional road safety messages which too often start with individual responsibility to keep yourself safe, rather than the responsibility of others not to harm you."
Campaigners say some recent media reports about the upcoming changes have been inaccurate, with the Government this week releasing a detailed explanation of the main eight changes here
Duncan Dollimore is head of campaigns for Cycling UK
Ed Pickering, a member of the Exeter Cycling Campaign and former Procycling editor, said: "It just means that the most vulnerable road users are prioritised.
"Pedestrians are the most vulnerable and they now stand at the top of the hierarchy and next step down is cyclists, horse riders, cars.
"A lot of people are injured or sadly even killed on our highways and it means we need to take more care to stop that happening.
"The number of deaths is way too high, the number of injuries is way too high. I think anything we can do to mitigate that has to be a necessary step."
Mike Ginger from the Taunton Area Cycling Campaign said: "The Highway code changes will work in parallel with the new design guidance for designing cycling infrastructure which gives cycling and walking priority at junctions.
"The two things come together and this week we've had the announcement from Active Travel England and the appointment of Chris Boardman as the interim commissioner so it means there's a series of quite important changes that are now starting to kick in."
For more about the updated Highway Code, which comes into force tomorrow, click here