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RAC Foundation

Communicating changes to the Highway Code

ISSUED BY THE Minister of Transport in pursuance of section 45 of the Road Traffic Act 1930, and available for the princely sum of one penny, the Highway Code made its first appearance in 1931. It ran to 21 pages, of which only 18 were needed to carry the advice (compared to the current version which in hard copy runs to well over a hundred).

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The original Highway Code made no mention of vehicles having mirrors, nor did it have images explaining the meaning of road signs – they didn’t come along until the second edition in 1934. And, of course, it was only available as a hard-copy booklet.

There have been multiple updates to the Highway Code over the years, both to its content and its format – today’s readers can access the code free of charge online or choose an app version to download for their smartphone.

A number of important additions have been made to the Code in 2022 – could the authors of the original Code have imagined that, as a result of one of those additions, it now anticipates the arrival of self-driving vehicles onto our roads? Other changes this year are aimed at giving greater protection to pedestrians and cyclists, including advice on who has right of way at junctions.

The trouble with making changes to the Code is that once they pass their driving test many drivers don’t revisit it until they are helping a friend or family member learn to drive. That’s why, in addition to providing input when changes to the Code are being developed, the RAC Foundation also lobbies for those changes to be widely communicated. A key part of ensuring drivers follow the rules of the road is to make sure they know what those rules are.

The Department for Transport offers a free online service through which anyone can register to receive email updates (or even tweets) when Code changes are made.

Meantime, aside from all the detail in the latest Code, the words right at the start of that very first version still resonate as excellent advice for today’s drivers:

Always be careful and considerate towards others. As a responsible citizen you have a duty to the community not to endanger or impede others in their lawful use of the King’s Highway.

Remember that all persons – pedestrians, cyclists, persons leading, riding or driving animals and the drivers of motor or horsedrawn vehicles – have a right to use the highway and an obligation to respect the rights of others.

Bear in mind the difficulties of others and try not to add to them.

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