As a member of this committee I occasionally get asked about its role. It is very difficult to explain it in a short and simple way. So after some thought I am posting the links below for those who wish to know more but the following short extracts might help people understand its importance and its role.
Delegated Powers: Acts of Parliament often confer powers on ministers to make law themselves. These are called ‘delegated powers’ (because Parliament is giving some of its authority to make law to someone else). Acts are known as ‘primary legislation’. Orders, rules and regulations made by ministers are known as ‘delegated legislation’ or ‘secondary legislation’.
Statutory Instruments (SIs): These are a form of legislation which allow the provisions of an Act of Parliament to be subsequently brought into force or altered without Parliament having to pass a new Act. They are also referred to as secondary, delegated or subordinate legislation.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/hoflbpdelegated.pdf
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/l07.pdf
I hope this is helpful. I can bring a dinner party to a sudden end when I go into the detail on these!
Do you get to cover guidance and guidelines (is there a difference?), whether they be statutory or not? Or are they just a different names for an SI?
I’ve seen in legislation that [body] shall take into account guidance issued from time to time by the minister.
LS: You’re having far too easy a time on this committee it’s about time you all got stuck into something really helpful like clarifying the regulations on roundabouts.
It seems both District Court Judges and Barristers have been operating in a legislative vacuum when it comes to road accidents occurring on mini roundabouts. What both are doing is establishing a de facto practice of always making the vehicle entering the roundabout from the right the innocent party when sometimes this is clearly not the case.
Any vehicle (A) having entered such a roundabout safely, can be hit by another vehicle (B) crossing the raised centre island negligently. Vehicle ‘A’ is hit square on to the offside because ‘B’ failed to navigate the roundabout properly.
Section 8.1 of the Traffic Signs Manual says:
“The marking (diagram 1003.4) carries no street furniture, and may be overrun by large vehicles if necessary.” What is not specified anywhere is what constitutes a larger vehicle? This is without doubt a very confused area of law.
An elected house might have an expanded role that allows it to scrutinise regulations and their supporting metadata. The primary legislation that deals with road markings is section 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Ref: Road Traffic Act 1988
Part I Principal Road Safety Provisions
Section 36; Drivers to comply with traffic signs.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/contents#pt6-pb1-l1g151
Traffic Signs Manual; Chapter 5; Road Markings
Section 8; Roundabouts; Mini Roundabouts (8.10)
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tss/tsmanual/trafficsignsmanualchapter5.pdf
Senex – when I learned to drive, it was quite clear in the Highway Code that the markings at mini roundabout were purely to indicate precedence and there was no obligation on anyone to actually go around the painted circle if an easier path was safe. I suspect this was changed when mini roundabouts were employed as traffic-calming measures because being able to take a straight-line course through a clear junction obviously doesn’t calm the traffic much. Indeed, on one particular road on my route home from work, the normal path for most cars is a straight line through three such roundabouts placed where there used to be T-junctions, instead of laboriously steering round the markings. It cuts down on the wear and tear of the tyres and steering, and saves fuel and brake wear if there is no conflicting traffic. The number of vehicles that do steer around is tiny in comparison.
The teaching profession complains bitterly about “regulations” which are imposed from above on a month by month basis.
The shrewd head master/mistress chucks them in the bin and does not let his teachers get at them, to worry about.
The not so shrewd is driven to distraction by them, but hopefully not by those issued by the minister.
My humble opinion, is that the minister is always best employed ensuring that too many regs don’t go out from his staff, not that more of his own should.
Rule 188 of the Highway Code states “approach these in the same way as normal roundabouts. All vehicles MUST pass round the central markings except large vehicles which are incapable of doing so. Remember, there is less space to manoeuvre and less time to signal. Avoid making U turns at mini roundabouts. Beware of others doing this.
We at the AA says the Highway Code advice is sound and support it – though we wish engineers designing these features would build in more ‘deflection’ on the approaches helping slow some drivers who take a high speed and dominant straight drive through sometimes creating a hazard for others – the give way to the right rule does apply too but it is sometimes sensible to hold back, even when you have right of way, when you see someone approaching at high speed on a straight path.
Infringement of Highway Code rules can be used as evidence should a driver end up in court for crossing the centre marking which is technically a road sign!
Head of Roads Policy
AA
DH: “no obligation on anyone to actually go around the painted circle if an easier path was safe”
You must be referring to Rule 185 of the Highway Code
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338
Where does it say you can run over the centre island?
Senex: It doesn’t say that any more, but if you can go back 20-30 years to when mini roundabouts were new and scary to most, that’s what it said.
automan1: Welcome to the blog, I believe this is your first appearance.
“All vehicles MUST pass round the central markings except large vehicles which are incapable of doing so”
I entirely agree with what you say. However, local authorities are installing mini roundabouts with painted island circles at junctions where even the smallest of cars cannot navigate the roundabout properly without the driver having to cross over the painted centre island.
So on this basis not all mini roundabouts are equal. The net outcome is that drivers become confused as to what is the right thing to do and even on the larger navigable mini roundabout they will simply drive over the raised centre island without giving it a second thought. Bad habits are being encouraged.
This is particularly dangerous at crossroads as a vehicle already on the roundabout does not legally have the right of way. Such a vehicle already at the centre island location can be hit square on centre to the offside by a driver from the right driving at speed over the centre island and failing to see the vehicle because they only ensured that no vehicle was to their right when they entered the roundabout. Negligence!
In such collisions the driver that entered the roundabout later and from the right is innocent and the car in the middle of the roundabout is wrong at least in the eyes of insurers and the courts especially if someone is seriously injured.
You have to view this also from a post legislative scrutiny point of view. I was surprised that road markings were not the subject of secondary legislation instead they are detailed in a manual. Why isn’t this defined in secondary legislation? Why a manual and what are the legal consequences?
Guidance and/or guidelines can be published by Ministers to clarify. They are not delegated legislation or SI’s.
CS: Exactly! The outcome of this is that Judges are left to their own devices and no two are likely to have the same view. This makes it impossible for barristers to predict an outcome. The result is that many cases are not brought to trial and justice is served poorly by this.