Tough new driving laws mean Brits could face a massive £1,000 fine if they break the law when getting out the way of an ambulance.
From today, a handful of new driving laws are being introduced in the Highway Code’s annual update.
This affects a whole host of issues on the road from charging electric cars, to clean air zones.
But it has also introduced tough new laws that could see Brits fined up to £1,000 and receive points if they make the wrong move to get out the way of any emergency vehicle.
The Highway Code is clear that motorists should give way to vehicles with flashing lights, including police cars, fire engines, ambulances and emergency doctors.
However, the new laws stress that when letting emergency vehicles pass, drivers must continue to abide by the regular laws of the road.
So, for example, if a driver ends up driving in the bus lane, or going through a red light to get out of an ambulance’s way, they could be slapped with a hefty fine.
The same goes for it they enter a yellow box junction, make an illegal turn or drive the wrong way down a one-way street.
But a driver’s punishment doesn’t stop there, and certain offences, like running a red light, could also see them receive points on their licence.
The Highway Code's instructions are: "You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens, or flashing headlights, or traffic officer and incident support vehicles using flashing amber lights."
The code says you should stop before the brow of a hill. You should also never mount the kerb, and not put anyone else in danger or brake harshly.
The changes to the Highway Code don’t stop there, councils across England and Wales have been granted extra powers.
These allow them to charge drivers with traffic offences and are all a part of efforts to promote cycling and walking, and make the roads safer for all who use them.
Other changes mean that unnecessarily honking your horn could land you with a £30 fine.
This is because the horn is only designed to be used to alert other drivers or warn them of your presence and misuse of it can distract or even shock other road users, potentially leading to accidents.
Meanwhile, Brits could be hit with a £60 fine for failing to clean the snow and ice off of their car and drivers need to take care to ensure their windscreen, lights and number plate are all clear.
Another law drivers should keep in mind relates to night time parking. At night, Brits should not park facing against the direction of traffic flow unless in a recognised parking space.
Breaking this rule could land you with another £1,000 fine.
Driving through a puddle and splashing pedestrians could see drivers hit with a massive £5,000 fine and even six-to-nine points on your licence.
The new changes also mean that now, all new homes and buildings built after June 15 will need to have an electric vehicle charger installed.
Any new residential buildings with associated parking must have access to electric car charge points.
The law will also require buildings undergoing large scale renovations to install electric vehicle (EV) charge points, provided they have more than 10 parking spaces.
This law change is part of its wider plan to cut carbon emissions, with £1.3 billion of investment being committed to electric vehicle charging infrastructure rollout.
Homes and businesses with existing EV chargers will be required to ensure they have smart charging capabilities.
These regulations will be introduced on June 30, and will be intended to help manage the strain on the National Grid with thousands of electric cars charging at once.
It is hoped the change will encourage drivers to use smarter tariffs to avoid charging during peak hours, which tend to be through the daytime.
In addition to the raft of changes listed above, more clean air zones are to be introduced this year and in the future.
The purpose of these zones, which some local authorities have already introduce, is to improve air quality.
According to the government website: "If your vehicle exceeds emission standards, you may have to pay a charge if you drive in a clean air zone".
Cities already with clean air zones include Birmingham, Bath and Portsmouth - and future zones due to start charging this year include Bradford and Bristol.
Greater Manchester is under review and the government website states: "More cities will implement clean air zones in 2022".
