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Wed 21 Feb, 13:27 (last edited on Wed 21 Feb, 13:37)
The Highway Code was changed in 2022 to say that drivers should give way to pedestrians waiting to cross a zebra crossing, but they must give way to one actually on the crossing. This was with a number of other changes. For example, drivers are now meant to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross side roads, and not just when they are already on the side road. Similar changes were made at roundabouts too in this respect (which I have mixed feelings about, as stopping on a busy roundabout can have its own dangers).
However, the rules for pedestrians have not changed and it is still extremely important to make sure that it is safe to cross whatever drivers are meant to do. This is what Highway Code rule 19 says.
"Zebra crossings. Give
traffic plenty of time to see you and to stop before you start to
cross. Vehicles will need more time when the road is slippery. Wait
until traffic has stopped from both directions or the road is clear
before crossing. Remember that traffic does not have to stop until
someone has moved onto the crossing. Drivers and riders should give way
to pedestrians waiting to cross and MUST give way to pedestrians on a zebra crossing (see Rule H2).
Keep looking both ways, and listening, in case a driver or rider has
not seen you and attempts to overtake a vehicle that has stopped."
Note that "must" means it's a specific offence not to comply whilst contravening a "should" rule can be taken into account as evidence of driving standards in a prosecution for a more general charge of careless or dangerous driving. I should also add that there is also now a hierarchy of vulnerable road users, and in any accident involving a pedestrian there is going to be an onus on any driver of a vehicle to show that they could not have reasonably avoided it. That's always been an element of the law as it is practised, but it is now more explicit.
As to why the new crossing is a zebra rather than pelican type, it is my understanding that this was partly a matter of cost and time but also because having a pelican crossing would mean that the lollipop lady/man would have been lost, presumably because there are rules about where and how they are funded.
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