Just a reminder for those who aren't aware of it that this is still an issue...
To all cyclists
If you cycle or are sympathetic the cycling world, please take two
minutes to read this and sign the e-gov petition - which CTC thinks is well worth doing
Your right to ride on the road is in jeopardy. The revised Highway Code says cyclists should "use cycle facilities where possible". If this Code is approved, cyclists will effectively lose the right to ride on the road where there are alternative routes or adjacent facilities.
The implications of this are too bad to contemplate. First we will
suffer more abuse and intimidating driving, as recently suffered by
a CTC member. Second, if a cyclist is involved in an accident and
tries to claim damages, the insurance companies are likely to argue
that the rider contributed to the accident by not using the cycle
facility.
The Highway Code has been laid before parliament. It will
automatically be approved unless it is referred to a House of
Commons Committee which cannot amend it and can only recommend the whole document be rejected.
It will take an unprecedented amount of adverse publicity to persuade the government to reject the Highway Code in its entirety.
The CTC HQ Campaign team are working hard to find some way of
achieving this and will obviously require national support.Meanwhile
HQ says it will do no harm to support the petition which is at
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/roads4bikes/
It is interesting to note that 35 MP's objected to the original
revised wording. Unfortunately, the replacement wording is no better.
Only 11,000 objections were received to the previous wording. There
are over 50, 000 in the CTC alone who should now be objecting.
If this Highway Code is approved by government cyclists will
effectively lose the right to ride on the road where there are
alternative routes or adjacent facilities.
Please register your name on the petition and persuade others to do
the same.