Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Highway Code's clothing recommendations for cyclists at (a) ensuring visibility and (b) keeping road users safe.

The safety of vulnerable road users is a priority for the Government, and the Department is determined to make the roads safer for everyone.

Rule 59 of The Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing to help other road users to see them in daylight and poor light, with reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark. This advice was strengthened in the updated version of The Highway Code that was published in January 2022, and the Department ran communication campaigns in both 2022 and 2023 to highlight some of the key changes.

The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes increased from 36% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022, with 83% of road users having heard of the changes by August.