On This Day: First Highway Code published

APRIL 14, 1931: The Highway Code was first published on this day in 1931 in a bid to help cut the road deaths and foster better driving in Britain.

The rulebook, which then included a section on horses, quickly become one of the most popular works of non-fiction and a million copies are now sold annually.

The guide, introduced four years before driving tests were introduced, is essential reading for anyone learning to drive.

The Government-published book has become an even more important since the introduction of the theory test in 1996.

[Stuck in a timewarp: Up for sale, the 27-year-old Volvo with only 132 miles on the clock]

[Drunk female motorist banned after driving wrong way up M5 for four MILES]

The Highway Code is credited for helping to cut road deaths from 7,000 a year in 1931 to an all-time low of 1,754 in 2012 despite a massive increase in vehicles.

Bizarrely, this road traffic bible was the brainchild of leading aeronautical Mervyn O’Gorman, who later joined the Royal Automobile Club’s motoring committee.

Driving then was a very a very different affair from the often gridlocked tedium of today.

It was seen as a glamorous activity, with only the upper and middle classes rich enough to enjoy gloriously open roads.

Yet, with 2.3million cars on the road and rising, it was felt that something needed to be done to ensure the death rate did not increase at the same pace.

O’Gorman conceived a simple code of essential do’s and don’ts for all drivers and the Government took up the idea and published the first 18-page edition for a penny.

Much of the 1931 Highway Code was devoted to hand signals, which were vital in the days before indicators became universal.

[Careless driver caught eating CORNFLAKES while driving at 30mph through city centre]

[Female driver makes miraculous escape after giant shipping container CRUSHES car roof]

It included the signal for stopping: “Extend the right arm with the palm of the hand turned downwards and move the arm slowly up and down, keeping the wrist loose.”

There was advice for users of horse-drawn vehicles on how to rotate a whip above your head to indicate which direction the vehicle was about to turn.

The guide continued to evolve – with an increase in pages – as technology and attitudes to driving changed and new rules and signs were introduced.

The next edition of the code was introduced by the new Labour government in 1946, despite petrol rationing still being in force.

In a public information trailer for the guide, found in the British Pathé online archive, the Ministry of Transport equated the publication as being as important for public safety as the 1929 discovery of penicillin.

This second edition listed just 15 road signs, of which only two are still in use, compared to around 170 in the current edition, which costs £2.50 and is nearly 100 pages long.

Stopping distances made their appearance in the 1950s, with the same guidance - 40ft at 20mph, 75ft at 30mph and so on – in the latest edition despite advances in braking technology.

Later that decade, the new colour versions included advice on driving on the new motorways.

The 1978 edition introduced the Green Cross Code for pedestrians and a section on vehicle security, prompted by soaring car theft rates.

The latest 2010 edition includes guidance on how to lower vehicle emissions.

And, while it might change, the Highway Code is likely to remain a staple of novice drivers for many years to come.