Dealing with pedestrians (and a cyclist) after the updates

Let's have a look at some practical examples of how to deal with pedestrian priority at junctions after the latest Highway Code updates 2022.

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[ashley_neal]

In reply to the comments regarding the final clip with the cyclist. The cyclist showed poor road communication skills which determined my actions. After giving him priority he took it, so the only safe thing was to hold back until I was certain. A few comments I've read are suggesting that I should have made an assumption and continued which is never the correct option especially at the moment where people don't know what's happening well enough. Stop the impatience and pick a safer option! 👍

[johnbenson]

Regardless of the changes, when I am in pedestrian mode and depending on the junction I will always try to cross behind a car if it means I can make a better assessment of the of the situation, even if the driver giving way is doing the right thing and driving well, there are so many idiots on our roads I prefer to make my own judgements, so yes I would agree that was a harsh call for that student.

[PinderProductions]

As a pedestrian I would still prefer to wait either for the car to stop or to clear the junction. Its not worth an injury to assert a new rule of who has priority imo.

[justinwebber]

It's a stupid rule: stop, look, listen, and wait for a gap worked so well. It's encouraging people to walk out in front of cars, even stopping coming off a roundabout; how is blocking the entire roundabout for a single pedestrian sensible.

[bndogor]

What an awkward rule. Of course you should always be courteous to pedestrians but the whole right of way mentality could be fatal in some situations.
I'm quite happy we don't have this rule in New Zealand.

[RDDL]

I like how you explained it's only a "should", but to assess the situation. So many motorists, cyclists and pedestrians think it's a "MUST".

I dread to think how many learner drivers could fail tests, etc. for reasons like how you'd shown in the video. That was definitely harsh, ruling it as a fail. 😬

[egrub]

I seen reactions across the spectrum this week, from pedestrians sauntering across 4 lanes of 40mph traffic, to pedestrians at junctions just stopping and staring at me when I give way to them. Needs more publicity from the government.

[El_Smeghead]

We were discussing the new rules on a CPC course yesterday, and the majority view was that these new rules are going to cause more incidents and collisions than they will prevent. Especially when it comes to stopping before turning left from a major road into a minor road to let a pedestrian cross. People already tailgate or nearly hit the vehicle in front when they slow to turn left already, many having to cross the centre line into oncoming traffic to avoid slamming into the back of the turning vehicle in front. With that vehicle now having to stop, and the actions of the following driver being as they are, it will only be a matter of time before a rear end shunt will propel the waiting vehicle into the pedestrian.
As you showed in one of your clips in this video, due to not every junction being without obstructions, a following driver may not even see a pedestrian waiting to cross that the car in front has stopped for, further increasing the risk of a rear end collision.
Yes, it goes without saying that sufficient distance should be left between them and the car in front, but as we all know, in the real world this rarely ever happens.

[two-countiesdashcam]

These rules need more clarification, especially whether to give way to pedestrians when exiting a roundabout, there are some roundabouts near me where stopping to let a pedestrian cross would almost certainly result in a vehicle into the side or rear of the stopped vehicle.

[stuartking]

I think this video starts to illustrate just how much of a mess they have made with these changes.

[SiCrewe]

Funny one I had, a couple of months ago...

As a pedestrian, I stopped at a corner, looked around, saw there was no road traffic and started to cross the road.
As I reached the middle of the road a police car pulled out of another side-road and reached the junction I was crossing.
The police car pulled right up to the Give Way line and... (sorry, not sorry) I walked in front of the police car and crossed the road.

As I continued along the pavement, I heard a siren behind me, turned around and realised the driver of the police car had pulled over to "have a chat".
I listened to what he said and then asked him if he was aware of the changes to the highway code, giving pedestrians right of way at junctions.
Shortly after that, it became apparent that the "chat" was not likely to be productive so I continued on my way.

[lewisd]

I don't drive that often anymore, but recently popped out and almost saw a crash because of these insane changes. The car two cars up went to turn left, turned out a pedestrian was waiting to cross. The car stopped, the car right behind swerved on to the wrong side of the road, a cyclist came up the middle of the road and almost went into the back of that car. I just sat there shaking my head.

[falsidical]

as a pedestrian, I usually find it's faster if the car just goes ahead first rather than dealing with the awkward "can I go?" moment, and a quick jog across the road because I don't want to hold up someone who was nice enough to stop.
So I just take out my phone or look away from the road to act like I'm not trying to cross so the car doesn't stop for me. Not saying anyone else should do this, but it's what I do lol.

[SwimBikeRunFastest]

It is a stupid rule. As a pedestrian the other day I came across 4 or 5 situations where it was ambiguous who had right of way. Sometimes the driver wanted me to go first, sometimes I felt the traffic conditions were not safe for me to cross but the driver tried to let me cross, sometimes I stepped out only to be beeped by oncoming vehicles.

As a driver I have already come across a number of impossible circumstances. As I was exiting a roundabout a drunk fell out of a pub and straight across the junction. The new rules say I should have given way to him but there was no time for me to react. I was already committed to the junction. He fell into the road behind my vehicle causing the vehicles behind to emergency stop. If I had hit him, I wonder how the police would have ruled?
And later on that same road there were pedestrians waiting to cross at a crossroad. In order for me to give way to them I'd have to stop on a through road (the give ways are either side).
The whole rule change is confusing for all road users.

Ps. A lot of pedestrians I see walking out into the road have nothing to do with this rule. It just seems to be a new thing recently to step out and cause the cars to stop.

[languagetruthandlogic]

Great videos! Examples like this are needed to explain the Code changes. What annoys me is that no focus has been given to responsibilities of road users to each other. Pedestrians, joggers etc have a responsibility to other road users eg. being seen and crossing only when safe. Cyclists responsibility is to be seen - bright clothing and functioning lights. I remember this approach from 60 years ago but today's focus seems to be making life difficult for drivers and bikers.

[seansimpson]

As a class 1 driver I'm just waiting for someone to get squished thinking 44 ton of wagon can stop and the driver to get slammed because of some idiot. Personally I'm just going to keep driving they way I always have and show my intentions via indicators and road positioning. I'm not slaming on my brakes and potentially getting rear ended because of some fancy new rules that as far as I'm concerned make pedestrians more vulnerable and encourage cyclists to move into my blind spots because they think there protected by the law. Good luck when I'm turning left with that protection.

Edited for spelling

[cliffthatcher]

I have always lived by the rule of staying on the sidewalk until AFTER vehicles have passed me. Only then will I venture into a crosswalk. I've never been hit.

[joules]

It's all a bit confusing for many road users but, critically, that confusion help reduce average traffic speed at points of potential conflict.
Of course, that wasn't the intention at the planning stage, but it is a silver lining to a difficult situation that might last many years until drivers more fully understand their new obligations.

[benedictearlson]

Two points for you to consider Ashley. Firstly with he test-fail due to the pedestrian: he stopped not because he wanted to cede priority to the car, he stopped because he thought he was about to be run over and was in danger. So think about that, are you are saying any pedestrian who thinks they are about to put themselves in danger should just keep walking? No, so he acted appropriately to keep himself safe. OK, so are you saying any driver seeing a pedestrian showing fear when crossing the junction should plough on? It seems so. You are also misreading the pedestrian, he stopped and only went towards the rear of the car after very quickly seeing it was still failing to stop for him. Second one - when you rhetorically asked the guy on the bike what he was doing. He was likely waiting for you to overtake him on the corner so you could safely get past him. Just like you stopped for him and didn't move when the light went green - do you think he could have been thinking at that point 'what are you doing mate?' I think so. I imagine he actually thought you were a drunk driver or impaired and decided to go dead slow so he could get you infront of him and feel safe. When you are on a bike seeing a car near you act as you did is very unnerving. Please put yourself in an unprotected bike rider's shoes, or go for a few rides yourself. I would finally say to not wait on a green light for a biker to your rear, they won't expect it and it's not any safer especially if they are staying behind you and are anticipating what YOU will do. If they draw forward obviously cede to them as the HC states - you being the larger vehicle.

[dcthebear]

Good video to explain the new rules. Should be an advert on TV.