The Highway Code is the official road user guide for Great Britain.[1]
The current recommended retail price of the book, as of 2010, is £2.50.[2] Most copies are bought by learner drivers, who are expected to learn the manual for their driving test.
In Northern Ireland the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies[3] while the Republic of Ireland has its own Rules of the Road.[4]
In Malta, the road regulations are also known as the Highway Code.
The first edition was published on 14 April 1931, with a price of one penny, and as of 2004 over one million copies of the modern code are sold each year.[5]
It was published in its entirety for the first time in 1934. During the preparation of the code the Ministry of Transport consulted 'extensively' with the Pedestrians Association.[6]
The latest edition of the Highway Code was released in September 2007 and contained new advice such as the risk of smoking while driving and information for novice drivers.[7]
The Highway Code contains 306 numbered rules and nine annexes covering pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers. As well as the rules and annexes, there is information on road signs, road markings, vehicle markings and road safety. The annexes contain information on vehicle maintenance, licence requirements, documentation, penalties and vehicle security.
Many of the rules in the Code are legal requirements. If these rules are disobeyed, a criminal offence is committed. Offenders may be fined, given penalty points on their licence or be disqualified from driving. In the most serious cases offenders may be sent to prison. Such rules are identified by the use of the words ‘MUST/MUST NOT’. In addition, the rule includes an abbreviated reference to the legislation which creates the offence.
Although failure to comply with the other rules of the Code will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted, The Highway Code may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under the Traffic Acts to establish liability. This includes rules which use advisory wording such as ‘should/should not’ or ‘do/do not’.
The Road Traffic Act 1988 says:
A failure on the part of a person to observe a provision of the Highway Code shall not of itself render that person liable to criminal proceedings of any kind but any such failure may in any proceedings (whether civil or criminal, and including proceedings for an offence under the Traffic Acts, the [1981 c. 14.] Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 or sections 18 to 23 of the [1985 c. 67.] Transport Act 1985) be relied upon by any party to the proceedings as tending to establish or negative any liability which is in question in those proceedings.[8]
The Highway Code applies to England, Scotland and Wales; regional specific signs such as driver location signs in England or bilingual signs in Scotland and Wales are not covered in the code.
The Highway Code is available in different formats. In any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, only the Department for Transport's current printed version of the Code should be relied upon.
The Highway Code is available: