From July to October 2020, a consultation was held to review the highway code to improve road safety, introducing new overtaking rules. With a predominantly positive 20,000 responses, with an introduction to the rules on the 29th of January 2022. To read more about the rules, click here. In this article, we will be focusing on rule 5 – overtaking by vehicles and cyclists. Due to the number of accidents that occur from poor practice whilst overtaking, the new rules – if followed, are introduced to avoid that.
What are the new overtaking rules?
A range of rules is coming into place tomorrow, to ensure safe overtaking practices on the road. These rules include:
The DVLA will be introducing safe passing guidance:
- When passing a cyclist, drivers should keep at least a 1.5-metre distance between them and the cyclist; if the cyclist is travelling under 30mph. The space given should be more significant if the cyclist is travelling faster than 30mph.
- If drivers are passing a horse or a horse-driven carriage travelling under 10 mph, they should leave at least 2 metres in between.
- When passing people on the road, keep 2 metres apart and keep a low speed.
Rules for cyclists passing stationary traffic or slow-moving traffic
Cyclists may pass slow-moving vehicles or stationary traffic on both of their sides.
The new rules also advise that cyclists should be careful when passing other vehicles, especially since they may not be able to see them. Cyclists are advised to be particularly wary when:
- Approaching Junctions.
- When deciding to pass lorries or larger vehicles.
Other Rules
The other Highway Code rules also introduced the new Hierarchy of Road users; this rule places the road users most at risk at the top of the hierarchy. That means that road users such as pedestrians and cyclists are seen to be the most vulnerable road users, and vehicle drivers must be most responsible to avoid causing any damage to them. To find out more, read here.
When people are crossing at junctions, vehicles should always give way. They should also give way to people trying to cross the road at a parallel crossing.
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