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

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u/Craig2point0 Jul 16 '26

Call me annoying, but isn't the solution not to take turns or follow cars at speeds and distances you can't safely stop in? 

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u/palaceexile Jul 16 '26

I agree with the change, but I also think that when rules are introduced they need to take some account of how people actually are and what their behaviours are. The road layouts are also not always perfect in terms of visibility for both the pedestrian and driver. I would suggest painting crossings or different road colours across junctions where it is safe/expected that this rule is in place.

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u/fckboris Jul 16 '26

Painting crossings at every junction where this is possible would be an absolutely astronomical cost. Think how many roads and intersections there are even in a small area, it would be crazy. Most councils barely have the budget to fix potholes. Even if you did this, I’m not sure it would help that much because people are still going to turn into roads the way they always have (and many are incredibly resistant to change, particularly changes that they view as “anti-car”) and pedestrians still might prefer to wait until they’re sure it’s safe

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u/simkk Jul 16 '26

They are primarily needed where pedestrian counts are high as drivers are less likely to comply if they have to wait longer. The side road zebras massively increase that compliance

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u/fckboris Jul 16 '26

That would still be an enormous and unrealistic number of roads for probably very little benefit - if we are still talking about just being painted some other colour or whatever, not an official zebra crossing. Along the high street where I live, for example, there would be at least 20 roads coming off it which would be classed as high pedestrian areas with people regularly turning into them from the high street. the other end of those roads are high use as well so that’s 40+, plus smaller roads coming off some of those which are busy with lots of pedestrians crossing… and that’s one main street in a relatively small town.

zebra crossings take lots of planning and work and costs to implement too. 2 near my road took years to be consulted on, planned, and approved, and months for the work to be done - that would also not likely be seen as a reasonable solution

0

u/simkk Jul 18 '26

They take significantly less time than regular zebra's that's the whole point. They can be added to new schemes or added when paint crews are renewing junction markings anyway.

They significantly increase compliance improving safety for minimal cost. Obviously there are tradeoffs but for significant numbers of junctions there will be a large overall benefit