LONDON. Priority to pedestrians and, new, also cyclists at intersections. The new English Highway Code, which will be officially published this autumn, will further promote and protect safety and travel on foot or by bicycle. The most important novelty will be that cyclists will be compared to pedestrians crossing the road on the strips: that is, when they arrive at a junction with a straight pace, they will always have precedence over cars and other vehicles.
The measure, as reported by the Bbc, is part of a new package of around 350 million euros from the British Ministry of Transport to increasingly support the use of bicycles and limit that of cars. A trend that with the pandemic has become more marked in the United Kingdom: in London, in the last year, dozens of streets have become pedestrianized and cycle paths have been increased (or extended).
The hierarchy will therefore change again for those who will travel on the English roads, a bit on the model of what happens for example in the Netherlands. In addition to the new traffic regulations, the Johnson government has promised to increase funds to build hundreds of miles of new cycle paths, as well as increase projects to encourage walking.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the number of total kilometers traveled by the British in the UK increased enormously by 46% last year. In total, in 2020, 5 billion miles, or 8 billion kilometers. It is the biggest increase of all the last 20 years combined.
.