Over 5,000 people have already contacted their MP to lobby for a change in the Highway Code, as part of British Cycling’s Turning the Corner campaign.
The initial petition, which called for a simple, universal rule around road junctions, attracted over 27,000 signatures and was handed in to the Department for Transport by British Cycling’s policy adviser Chris Boardman last Thursday. This triggered the second phase of the campaign, which asks supporters to email their MP to back the petition in Parliament.
The fact that so many of those supporters have taken this step within a week of the petition being handed in shows the level of support for the rule change, says Boardman:
“For 5,000 supporters to have already emailed their MP is a really encouraging start. It shows that this issue is really important to people and, tellingly, it’s not just cyclists who are supporting this – people who do a lot of walking or driving are also getting involved and leaving really supportive messages.
“I’m really pleased that people can see the benefits that this simple change to the Highway Code could bring to everyone who uses the roads.”
The campaign is calling for the introduction of a universal rule for road users to give way when turning in order create simpler, safer junctions. Whether you are driving or cycling, you would be clearly obliged to give way when turning left or right, to people who are going straight ahead.
The Highway Code, which has not been fully refreshed for nine years, currently contains at least 14 rules about junctions, often with a different emphasis. This simple rule change would bring the UK in line with countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden where walking and cycling is much safer.
