The reality is that the UK (and the US and anywhere else with a long tradition of relatively continuous and stable government) has lots of laws that are current

The reality is that the UK (and the US and anywhere else with a long tradition of relatively continuous and stable government) has lots of laws that are currently enforced that are dozens to hundreds of years old. In common law countries, we have laws that we can trace back many hundreds of years. If you think a law is outmoded or no longer reflects society's values, then you have recourse: get it repealed or amended. Or flaunt the law and take your chances. People do that all the time, with greater or lesser degrees of success. Societies ruled by law should not ignore old laws just because we think the original authors could not have possibly basic good judgments like, say, pedestrians should be safe on pedestrian thoroughfares.