Hi Paul, no offence taken as my intention with starting this thread was to open up a debate.
I agree with what you're saying: the law is indeed intended to protect the most vulnerable road users from those who can cause them harm, I just suspect that there will be a significant number of vulnerable road users who take their own meaning from the new rules and put themselves in harm's way out of misguided righteousness.
I also agree with you about the majority of cyclists acting responsibly, but again, there will be a minority who interpret and act on the new rules in a way which will put them at higher risk of harm than they already were.
I already look out for vulnerable road users and where I live, these new rules should be fairly easy to comply with as it's mostly empty rural roads and small Towns. We do get a lot of motorcyclists heading for the coast and I have to say that about 75% of those ride like they have a death wish.
On one occasion I was cruising along at the speed limit on a single carriageway road towards Snetterton when a bike came up fast in my rear three three quarters and was clearly aiming to go through the miniscule gap between me and the line of cars heading towards us. I moved over to the left to let him pass and almost hit another bike that I hadn't seen who was aiming to overtake me on the inside at high speed. How he shook his little fist at me for driving so irresponsibly.
We also get quite a few horses on the roads, which I've never really understood as there are plenty of fields and bridleways that they could ride on instead. I personally wouldn't want to be riding a vehicle that has a mind of its own and no brakes on the road, but I guess they're sort of trialling fully autonomous vehicles before the rest of us are forced into them.
In bigger Towns and Cities, however, these new rules are going to be very difficult to comply with and I do believe they will lead to more pedestrian and cyclist casualties, not less.
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