Highway Code
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to increase awareness of the changes to the hierarchy of road users in Highway Code Rules H1 to 3.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood
Following a review of the Highway Code in 2022, the Department introduced a hierarchy of road users, which ensures that those who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they may pose to others.
Communications to raise awareness of the changes were launched via a factual awareness raising campaign in 2022. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in the summers of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Over £2.4 million has been spent on media across the campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.
Campaign outcomes included 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023, and 9 in 10 of those who recognised a campaign advert saying they had taken action as a result.
We continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels and via our partner organisations. We continually review allocation of communications spend across road safety issues based on the latest insights and evidence.
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