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.

It’s your job as a driver to keep yourself up to date with any changes to the Highway Code. Do you need your hand held with everything in life?

They did advertise the changes to the Highway Code at the time it was published - about 3 or 4 years ago. It was on the news as well!

Voted YABU but that’s because I think this is lower down the list of things that shit drivers don’t do.

I respond to being beeped by saying ‘it’s my right of way’ and smiling. If they’ve beeped me then they are already dicks.

That’s because usually it isn’t safe to do so. I’m a stickler for the rules, especially when driving, but this rule is absolutely setting everyone up for an accident.

But if you see them waiting to cross, or about to cross, you should be preparing to stop anyway. That’s the change - you have to stop BEFORE they’re in the road. You’re meant to allow them to cross. They were right, even if it seems dangerous. And in my view it IS a dangerous update to the HC because of the confusion it causes. A lot of non-drivers would never pick up the Highway Code and read it, so as a driver you’re left wondering if they’re going to walk across or stand firmly on the pavement. It’s this uncertainty that causes accidents.

Most don’t stop at zebra crossings so I doubt they’d think to do this. The culture is gross in this country. I love Poland, you barely even have to check the roads because you can just trust all cars will stop automatically and let you cross. Must be infuriatingly slow as a driver but brilliant as a pedestrian. Even Audi’s stop which is astonishing!

Drivers shouldn't be telling pedestrians to cross the road either. Its up to them to chose when its safe to do so, not because you are stopped and frantically waving.

If they don't want to cross, you just drive on. You've done your bit, they've declined.

It's true cyclists hurt others, but not very often, and usually not severely. The "motorised metal boxes", on the other hand, are killing and maiming hundreds of people every month, so common sense dictates it would be best to focus on that, no?

It's not new. I passed my test in 1994 and this rule has been around since before then.

Many padestrians drive cars too, so have paid road tax. Being a pedestrian isn't a permanent unchangeable thing. However, it's beside the point. Paying road tax does not give you the right to mow down anyone who gets in your way.

Road tax was abolished in 1937. What a motorist pays is VED which goes into a general government pot. The funds which are used to maintain highway and public roads come from the council tax which we all pay. Pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders AND drivers. Pedestrians get priority because they are the most vulnerable users of the road and because it is the law. HTH

That's a bit like saying it's ok to shoplift because it's not armed robbery!

Pretty much the same! I give way to cars even though I have the right of way. Theres no pleasure in stating I was right when Im being carted of in an ambulance.

Yes. Also I pay far more in council tax than I pay in vehicle tax (which has been £0 for 10 years on a Diesel Mini, now £20 a year).

100% pedestrian here. I can see both sides. I like to think of myself as a 'good' pedestrian - I stop and look and wait for a safe crossing opportunity, but I know that many pedestrians don't. On the other side, there's the issue of trust - and I simply don't trust car drivers to stop, use their indicators, etc.

So, it's stalemate really.

Weirdly no.

The worst are those who think the agreed rules of the road dont apply to them. Its sheer luck that they dont cause more accidents

If you stop and the car behind drives in to you, they were too close.

One thing councils could do would be to narrow the entrance / exits to residential streets so that pedestrians spend less time crossing the road. There are several locally to me where the pavement really curves back, so the crossing is much longer than is needed. What this means is that you can start to cross when the road is clear and then be surprised by a car approaching. They also encourage drivers to do a fast turn from the main road. I found visibility was poor on some when pushing a pram because you needed to be close to the kerb to see past any parked cars.

Others junctions have a much tighter turn (including one or two with a raised crossing) & work fine so there doesn’t seem to be the need for the wider crossings.

Agree

I drive, but as a pedestrian I want to cross when I feel it is safe. Not feel pressured by someone waiting for me to do so.

It's fine on quiet streets when you only have one car at a time, but side roads can be surprisingly busy.

I am aware of it. And got shouted at by a driver a few weeks ago who apparently wasn't aware of it.

It’s not anything like that. If drivers can’t even be bothered to use indicators - which 99% of the cars on my school run don’t - then there’s a bigger issue really.

I agree with PP who mentioned cyclists being a big danger. Lots of cars stop for me when I need to cross the road, mostly when I’m with my kids. Zero bikes have ever stopped. We always have to get out of their way.

As a driver I make a point to stop let kids cross the road safely as I knew a girl who died this way when I was younger.

As a pedestrian I would love this rule to go away. A couple of times now I've been waiting to cross the road with my toddler and 5 yo (who need to learn to cross safely) and we've ended up standing in the middle of the road where I've been ushered across by a turning car, only to find the car coming the other way doesn't want to stop (who may have been some distance away when we started so saw us coming - we move slow).

So the I've got the kids, standing in the middle of road in a dangerous position, because I didn't do what I'm trying to teach them : don't cross the road when there are cars coming!

So now I stay well back, and I won't cross even when drivers are getting irritated because they've stopped. It's not worth it.

As a driver I will give way to pedestrians if they are crossing already (obviously) or if they look like they're ready to set off and expecting me to stop. But I have noticed more stand back like I do I think as a signal they don't want to be given way as it's too dangerous.

That's a weird take. A car striking and killing a pedestrian is definitely worse than, say, a cyclist running a red light.

I was preparing to stop. I could tell from their body language that they weren't going to stop. I am an extremely careful driver. I am in London where it is all 20mph.

My pointbis why do these people not stop and look. I genuinely don't understand it. Maybe I was indoctrinated into looking as a child - i was born in the 60s and road safety was absolutely drummed into us as kids.

Regardless of rights of way, everyone should be paying attention. Yes I should be looking out for people choosing to walk out in front of me but also they shouldn't be doing it in the first place. It can cause accidents if you are turning into a road and suddenly have to brake and the car behind thought you were moving away and crashes into you. The issue of right of way is to make priorities clear, not give people carte blanche to walk into a road without looking

Yes there are bigger issues. No-one is denying that. It doesn't mean the smaller issues become non-existent.