Drivers' safety advice ignored in Highway Code review

The recently revised Highway Code does not include a single one of the 18 suggestions put forward by the Association of British Drivers, despite the group being invited to contribute to the Driving Standards Agency's consultation.

The suggestions were intended to improve road safety for all road users and included the following:

Advice to cyclists and pedestrians against being distracted by mobile phones or personal stereos when riding along or crossing roads.

Advice to drivers to leave a gap to the vehicle in front to permit overtaking, if they do not intend to overtake themselves, and to use main beam headlights on unlit roads when it is safe to do so.

Greater clarification of the difference between single and dual carriageways, as many drivers are confused and may break speed limits unintentionally.

Strengthening the advice to new drivers to take further training after passing the standard driving test.

The full list of suggestions and the reasoning for them can be found on the ABD's website.

ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries comments: "None of the ABD's suggestions for improving the Highway Code would be considered controversial by any reasonable person, but they have all just been dismissed out of hand. It is clear that the government is not interested in using the pool of knowledge about real-world driving that exists within the ABD, simply because we campaign against its dogmatic anti-car policies.

"The ABD has many advanced drivers and former traffic police officers among its members. I suggest we are better able to contribute to improving road safety than most of the Whitehall desk jockeys responsible for the failed strategies of the last decade."