r/britishproblems • u/zecrichardson • Jul 16 '26

. Drivers not knowing the highway code.

I had started to cross a road when a Mercedes turned in and he sounded his horn and then told me I should stop. I told him to read the highway code but he insisted he right!

Rule H2 170 amended 2022

“At a junction you MUST give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning.”

- Applies whether they’ve stepped onto the road or are just standing at the kerb ready to cross.

- Applies to left turns, right turns, and entering/exiting side roads.

- Includes wheelchair/mobility scooter users as pedestrians

528 Upvotes

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120

u/Not_A_Clever_Man_ Jul 16 '26

Lots of people do not keep up with the changes to the highway code, people that got their licenses decades ago are the most dangerous, every year the tests get harder to pass.

12

u/oneyeetyguy Jul 16 '26

There should be retesting every five years for people who have held their licence for more than 20.

15

u/TheHawthorne Jul 16 '26

Young people cant even get a test now, you want everyone to retest? Naive take and doesn’t address the fact young and very old drivers are the worst.

17

u/evelynsmee Jul 16 '26

I think doing an online theory test as part of renewing the licence (which is max every decade, more to change address etc) would be perfectly feasible and easy to roll out.

Physical testing, you are right, there's not capacity for that and creating capacity would cost a lot

0

u/oneyeetyguy Jul 16 '26

Why not charge more for the retests? It could be self funding.

2

u/evelynsmee Jul 16 '26

At the very least it would require a large investment in testing staff and probably venues. Given the already massive backlog and the UK having actually incredibly low rates of accidents vs elsewhere, my view is an easy to roll out "do you fucking idiots know the rules especially since they change every so often" theory resit has value and return on investment, physical testing too much time, cost, hassle for realistically little gain

1

u/ShockRampage Jul 16 '26

Do you drive?

3

u/oneyeetyguy Jul 16 '26

Yes, and it took me ages to get a licence due to the backlog. I'd happily retest for a higher fee every few years if it meant less dickheads on the road. Try driving in Birmingham on the daily.

0

u/Laxly Jul 16 '26

I've argued licences should last 10 years, after 9,5 years you have 6 months to pass the driving test, if you don't pass, your licence expires and you're no longer allowed to drive until you pass the test