Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to increase public awareness of changes to the Highway Code made in 2022.

Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022 introducing a hierarchy of road users, the department ran a THINK! campaign to raise awareness of the changes as they came into effect. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in the summer of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance.

Over £2.4million has been spent on paid advertising across the Highway Code campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.

We continually review our campaign priorities using data and research to make sure we are addressing the most important road safety issues to help make our roads safer.

We also continue to promote the Highway Code in partnership with other organisations, through THINK! social channels and via education resources. 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 help keep cyclists safe, and to raise awareness of pedestrian priority at junctions.