To remind people about Highway Code rule H2?

[auserna]

Because about 90% of drivers seem either to be unaware of it or just ignore it and, as a pedestrian, it's fucking irritating! I particularly object to being beeped at when I've already started crossing and a car subsequently swings round the corner.

"Rule H2 of the UK Highway Code mandates that drivers, motorcyclists, horse riders, and cyclists must give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which they are turning. This rule, introduced to enhance pedestrian safety at junctions, applies to both major and minor road turns."

I'd be interested to know who wasn't already aware of this.

And if someone was already crossing ehen you came around the corner, you wouldn't stop then either?

You are supposed to give way to pedestrians when turning into side roads. You should be approaching junctions at a suitable speed at which you could stop short of an obstruction. You should be indicating well in advance of making a manoeuvre. Any following car should leave sufficient space to allow them to stop short if necessary.

If you cannot manage this then you should cut up your licence.

There's no such thing as "road tax". Hasn't been anything of the sort since 1937. You are responsible for keeping up-to-date with rule changes, but clearly you're 89 years behind in general.

^This. I tried to give way to a bike and later a pedestrian at two different junctions today under the rule OP describes. Both of them stopped and waited for me while I was waiting for them. Eventually I was the one who got beeped from behind for trying to give way!

Surely the road is the car's path isn't it, rather than the pedestrians? The pedestrian is crossing the car's path? No? 🤔

I said potential hazard in the first place. The whole point is that they are moving towards the road, otherwise H2 wouldn't apply.

In terms of direction of travel it's the pedestrian's.

Pedestrian is going in a straight line. Car is turning 90 degrees across their path.

I actually think it can be a dangerous rule, I've known about it for a long time and I always give way to pedestrians when I'm turning LEFT into a side street.

I will ONLY give way to pedestrians if I'm turning right into the side street if nothing is coming towards me. That car coming towards me could easily decide to turn into the road the pedestrian is now crossing (with or without indicating), as is their right of way over me, not realising that I'm actually waiting for a pedestrian to cross first.. it's an accident waiting to happen and I don't want that on my conscience.

it can be a dangerous rule if other people aren't paying attention to what others are doing, which is most people IMO.

Not for Northern Ireland though, which is why I asked.

Unfortunately it's outrageously dangerous. The wording now expects that you stop at the exit of a roundabout to allow a pedestrian to cross. Which will result in you being rear ended and possibly killed on a motorbike.

it's not for roundabouts, it's for junctions only.

And what is a roundabout? A junction. It absolutely applies at both roundabout entrances and exits.

However - it's not law, and is simply a "should". Feel free to ignore when it's safer to do so

A roundabout is NOT a junction, not for the purpose of that rule anyway, it specifically mentions it as a road you are turning out of or in to.

I've also just realised that the OP is wrong in what they have put, the H2 rule doesn't say that you MUST give way to pedestrians, it says you SHOULD which is completely different:

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

In other words, you should give way to pedestrians if it is safe to do so.

The use of the word MUST and SHOULD are very important in the highway code.

Interesting. I just quoted the wording that came up when I googled it.

@auserna I googled too - the pp is right - see screenshot from the gov.uk website. The wording is should not must.

I'm not disputing that, but that doesn't invalidate my point that people generally don't (at least not where I live).

Also I'm sure the wording was made more emphatic in 2022.

As a pedestrian, I don't really care what the rule is, I care about my safety on the ground. I always wait until any cars have gone because I am less likely to be hit. I would never step into the road as a car was already turning into it and hope it would stop.

That’s the quote from the gov website?

I will try to get an updated version and take a look as I’m now intrigued.

Screenshot from Highway Code pdf

I agree with this and have been aware of the rule since it came in and follow it if safe to do so.

It makes sense that the more vulnerable have priority but it does seem to be a problematic addition to me.

@sandyhappypeople get a prize for being the first person on the thread to realise that the OPs quotation was wrong about H2 'mandating' anything. It is guidance to be followed when it is safe. The caveat is that HC guidance is in large part the standard that will be considered in the event of a careless or dangerous driving charge.

However not correct with regard to roundabouts. The DVSA have been clear with us instructors that roundabouts are indeed considered to be junctions (which they are - you are simply entering and leaving a one way road when you use a roundabout - it's just that the one way road goes round in a circle).

I have mixed feelings about the rule as an ADI. I get the concept, but to my mind there are some big issues, especially when you have multiple vehicles approaching a junction from different directions. It becomes extremely difficult for the average driver who doesn't spend all day seeing and thinking about these things as I do to make safe, accurate decisions in these situations.

Nobody had ever given way to me when I've been waiting to cross or crossing a road.

I definitely know this rule as it was one of the rules I broke 40 years ago when I took my first driving test and it caused me ( rightly) to fail the test that time.

In my case the pedestrian had not yet stopped at the junction as I turned into the road but he was approaching and very close. He was also carrying a white stick and being led by a guide dog so it was a particularly bad error to not stop and give way to him as the test instructor told me.very severely after the test😳. A couple.of years later while at university someone I knew hit a pedestrian in a similar scenario so I doubly know this rule and never forget it. It is inscribed in my brain in the way important events in your late teens and early 20s are wont to do somehow.

As for keeping people waiting - all I can say is "tough: if that happens I'm afraid

You clearly don't know the law. There is a hierarchy of vulnerability, with the law placing pedestrians as being the most vulnerable. The changes came in to strengthen and clarify the existing law.

Not only don't you have knowledge of the law, you also make lame excuses for not keeping up to date on the law. These changes were announced in Jan 2022, and were released on all main news agencies both in digital and traditional formats, public consultation and many road safety agencies.

We all have a responsibility to keep up with the law, ignorance is no defence in law, so if you were heaven forbid to cause a fatal accident, you would not be able to bleat that "they never told me".

here is one example of dozens that are still available since the law was strengthened in 2022.

Will the Highway Code revamp improve road safety? www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59997523

I don’t have this problem, most of the pedestrians where I live usually cross without looking anyway.