Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the proportion of drivers who regularly update their knowledge of the Highway Code.

The Department for Transport has not made an estimate of the proportion of drivers who regularly update their knowledge of the Highway Code.

In January 2022 the Department made changes to the Highway Code to help improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding and ran THINK! campaigns to raise awareness of the changes. The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes in September 2023 was at 70% among all road users (82% amongst drivers), with 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023.

We continue to promote the Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations, including supporting an upcoming Transport for London campaign encouraging road users to follow Highway Code rules to keep themselves and others safe. In addition, we run three radio filler adverts year-round, encouraging motorists to maintain safe passing distances from cyclists and horse riders, to use the Dutch Reach when opening car doors to keep cyclists safe, and to raise awareness of pedestrian priority at junctions.