Cyclists and motorists engage in Twitter ‘war of words’ over Highway Code updates
Cyclists and motorists have engaged in a war of words on Twitter, following the updates to the Highway Code.
The rules – which came into force on Saturday – have established a hierarchy of road users to ensure “those who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they pose to others, City A.M. reported.
Under the new regulation, cyclists are advised to cycle in the centre of the road on quiet roads and in slow-moving traffic to make themselves more visible. The move provoked motorists’ anger, who took it to social media to express their discontent.
“The problem is drivers have enough to worry about without extra stress put on them to worry about cyclists in the middle of the road and pedestrians trying to cross next to a junction,” said one Twitter user. “These changes are fundamentally wrong, each party should be responsible of their own safety.”
Another added: “Drove to work this morning, first time since the new Highway Code came into play. Mental!! Just as many pedestrians and cyclists as last week and took the same length of time to get to the office…”
The response from cyclists didn’t take long to arrive, as one person said motorists’ anger was “frightening to behold.”
“Why do they think they own the roads? Why are they enraged at decent human being behaviour?”