Despite the fact that dangerous driving has been prohibited for over a century - since the Road Traffic Act of 1930, in fact - many UK drivers continue to flout the laws on a daily basis.
Despite tremendous developments in automobile safety technology over the previous two decades, a BBC Panorama investigation has found that the death rate on our roads is on the rise for the first time in 40 years.
According to safety organizations, UK drivers habitually break the law because they know they can get away with it.
However, modifications to the Highway Code's terminology, which take effect on January 29, may be about to cause a shift.
As a result of the changes, a motorist is now more likely to be penalized for endangering other road users, particularly if they are captured on video.
According to the new rule book, heavy vehicle drivers must now recognize that they offer the highest risk of injury to smaller vehicles, horse riders, bicycles, and pedestrians.
What changes have been made to the Highway Code?
Nothing in the statute has changed; what has been added is clarity. Drivers were warned in earlier editions of the Highway Code to be alert of vulnerable road users; now they must prioritize them.
"You should not cut across bicycles, horse riders, or horse-drawn vehicles heading ahead while turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane, just as you would not turn across the path of another motor vehicle," says regulation H3.
"You must give way to them whether they are using a bike lane, a cycle track, or riding ahead on the road."
The new Highway Code makes it more likely that a motorist may be fined for endangering other road users.
When a car overtakes them on the right and then turns left across them, cyclists refer to this maneuver as the 'left hook.' Because to the change in the rules, the odds of successfully prosecuting the driver have just improved if a rider is able to film this manoeuvre on video.
Det Ch Insp Andy Cox, Lincolnshire Police's head of crime and previous lead for Vision Zero, a London-based road injury reduction programme, is optimistic. "It's a watershed moment. The police cannot be there at all times, but the public can."
He claims to have witnessed firsthand how successful deploying cameras can be in reducing poor driving, claiming that "we were enforcing around two-thirds of all submissions" in London.
Fixed penalty notices, points on your driver's license, and penalties range from fixed penalty notices to suspended prison terms. He is unequivocal in his belief that allowing vulnerable road users to submit proof of unsafe driving will influence driver behaviour.
"Some cyclists informed me they'd had a near approach, their film was forwarded to us, and then they saw the same vehicle again, but [it] left them more room [the following time]," Det Ch Insp Cox explains.
"The instructions are a little clearer now than they were previously. In that sense, it may be useful to the cops in circumstances when they wish to prosecute.
because it clarifies the duties," Stuart Kightley, a personal injury lawyer with Osborne's in London, agrees.
However, when the code change was announced earlier in January, several drivers expressed their displeasure on Twitter, criticizing the Department for Transport (DfT) for not making it more generally known.
The Department for Transport's parliamentary under-secretary of state, Trudy Harrison, has stated that a bigger "habit change campaign" will be launched later this year.
The Department for Transport says it has formed a working group of major organizations to ensure that information on the changes is widely disseminated, backed up by its current THINK! Road safety campaign.
Det Ch Insp Cox advises drivers who are concerned about being videotaped and reported by overzealous cyclists to think twice about how they drive, since "risk driving is not simply a traffic violation - this is road crime."
According to the British Horse Society, around 1,000 road-related events involving automobiles and horse riders occur each year.
The British Horse Society's director of safety, Alan Hiscox, is "extremely happy" with the amendments since they specifically include overtaking; "before this, we were the forgotten portion of the vulnerable road user category," he adds.
"Rather than saying 'pass wide and slow,' the Highway Code now reads 'pass horses at a maximum of 10mph and give them 2m' - now drivers have something concrete to refer to," he explains.
In January, at least two horses were killed on UK roads, according to the BHS, which reports roughly 1,000 road-related fatalities each year.
Mr Hiscox believes it's up to the individual horse rider to decide whether or not to use a helmet camera, but video footage can aid support any police inquiry into a traffic accident.
According to environmental psychologist Ian Walker, improving road safety will require addressing habitual driving behaviour.
However, Ian Walker, a professor of environmental psychology at Surrey University who has studied how to improve drivers' attitudes toward bicycles, is sceptical that the code changes will address "a group of drivers [who] won't care and don't believe they should share the road."
"Driving is habitual, and habitual behaviour is difficult to modify," he explains.
On a more positive note, he adds that boosting knowledge of the regulations, as well as "knowing that you're more likely to get caught," will be critical in promoting change.
Many bikers are irritated by the fact that they must pay for cameras to keep them safe.
Cameras may be costly; to be successful, they must be tiny enough to fit on a bike or helmet while still being capable of detecting number plates at high speeds and in poor light.
Riders also protest that it should not be their burden to finance the extra expense of this technology when it is the job of drivers to keep them safe in the first place.
"Cameras are fantastic for gathering evidence, but I got into riding to relax, not to spend my time making police reports," says Nigel Roe, a Manchester-based father of two who is an avid biker.
He created PassPixis after an intense "road rage" encounter with a vehicle a few years ago. It's a little sticker that can be attached to a jacket or backpack to alert vehicles behind them that they are being videotaped, even if they aren't.
"I tried utilizing a low-cost action camera, but it quickly became evident that they aren't visible enough for drivers to see. It doesn't actually work as a deterrence to poor driving."
The Department for Transport claims to have formed a working group of relevant organizations to ensure that information about the changes is widely disseminated.
Mr Roe claims to have only filed two police reports since the creation of PassPixis: "Every 20 miles, I'd find myself yelling at vehicles five times. If I do it once, I consider it a horrible ride."
Despite his apparent success and the code's upgrade, Mr Roe still resents having to rely on the fear of legal action to protect himself.
"It's a little disappointing that it requires a camera sign to get people to change their habits," he adds. "That shows me they're more worried about their licenses than with the possibility of endangering other people."
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