13.2 Pedestrians, Cyclists & Other Road Users

13.2 Pedestrians, Cyclists & Other Road Users

Quick Answer: Share the road with pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and light rail. Give extra care to children and the elderly. Give room to cyclists and two-wheelers; check blind spots before turns, lane changes, and door opening. Expect sudden moves near markets, schools, stands, and crossings. Professional taxi driving means space + patience + lawful set-down, not size-based priority or horn pressure.

Section 13.1 fixed junction priority. This section is about who else occupies the same space as your taxi — the Road Users’ Code theme of sharing the road and protecting vulnerable users. Part B items often describe a cyclist in the blind spot, a child near a school, or a motorcyclist filtering in traffic. The correct answer almost always privileges observation, space, and restraint over speed or assertiveness.

Share the Road: The Professional Baseline

A taxi is larger, faster-accelerating in many situations, and protected by a cabin. Pedestrians and riders are not. The Code’s sharing principle for drivers:

1. Expect other user types on almost every urban street
2. Leave space so a small error by another user does not become a collision
3. Adjust speed so you can stop within the clear distance ahead (Section 12.2 link)
4. Never bully with close passes, continuous horn, or blocking

Who you share with (exam map)

Treat “I did not see them” as a preparation failure, not an excuse. The exam rewards drivers who looked properly.

Pedestrians: Always Assume Presence Near the Kerb

Pedestrians appear where taxis work hardest: busy kerbs.

High-risk pedestrian situations

• Stepping out from between parked cars or goods vehicles
• Crossing away from formal crossings (still your duty to avoid hitting them when you can)
• Walking behind a taxi that has just stopped (luggage, payment, door swing)
• Crowds at MTR exits, ferry piers, stadiums, and school gates
• Night and rain: dark clothing, umbrellas, reduced visibility

Driver actions

• Approach busy kerbs and markets at a speed that allows a smooth stop
• When setting down, stop close to the kerb where lawful so passengers do not step into the lane
• Check mirrors and the nearside before moving off after alighting — a person may walk behind the boot
• Do not wave pedestrians through if that conflicts with signals or puts them into other traffic’s path; prioritise clear, lawful, non-confusing behaviour
• Never stop on a crossing to load or unload (developed further in Section 13.3)

Extra Care for Children and Elderly People

The Road Users’ Code (and related safety teaching, including themes you will also meet in broader RUC chapters on special care) stresses that children and older pedestrians need more protection.

Children

Children may:

• Misjudge vehicle speed and distance
• Dash out after a ball, parent, or friend
• Be hidden behind vehicles or street furniture
• Copy adults who cross unsafely

Near schools, playgrounds, parks, and residential estates, reduce speed further and scan both sides of the road. A “clear” carriageway can produce a child in one second.

Elderly and less mobile pedestrians

Older people and people with reduced mobility may:

• Need more time to cross
• Walk more slowly after the signal changes
• Have hearing or vision limits
• Use sticks, frames, or wheelchairs that change how they occupy space

Professional response: patience. Do not edge forward to rush them. Do not use the horn to hurry them off a crossing. If you are turning, wait until they are clear.

Taxi passenger angle

Elderly passengers alighting need a stable, lawful stop close to the kerb, time to stand, and doors opened with care. Rushing them into traffic to free a junction is both unsafe and unprofessional — and it creates the exact pedestrian conflict Part B describes.

Cyclists: Give Room and Expect the Unexpected

Cyclists are vulnerable to side-swipe, close overtaking, left-hook turns, and dooring.

Core driver duties toward cyclists

1. Give adequate lateral space when overtaking — do not pass “as close as possible to save road space”
2. Check blind spots before left turns, lane changes, and pulling into the kerb
3. Do not cut across a cyclist to reach a pickup point or stand
4. Hold back if you cannot pass safely; wait for a wider, clearer stretch
5. Watch for sudden swerves around potholes, drain covers, tram tracks, or opening doors

Left-hook and nearside traps (very high yield)

A taxi intending to turn left or stop at the kerb may have a cyclist continuing straight on the nearside. Sequence:

Mirror → signal early → blind-spot check → only then turn or pull in.

If the cyclist is alongside or approaching closely, let them clear before you cross their path.

Dooring risk after set-down

When passengers open doors:

• Check that the door will not swing into a cyclist or motorcyclist
• Prefer alighting on the safer side relative to traffic when layout allows
• Teach (calmly) that doors should not be flung open — you remain responsible for the stop’s safety setup

Motorcyclists: Filtering and Blind Spots

Motorcyclists often filter between lanes in slow Hong Kong traffic. They can be:

• Beside your rear quarters where mirrors alone miss them
• Accelerating through a gap you planned to take
• Unstable on wet road markings and metal surfaces

Safe habits

The practice-bank style correct statement: allow extra space, check blind spots, and avoid cutting across them when turning or changing lanes.

Light Rail and Other Large / Constrained Users

In light-rail areas (and similarly where trams or reserved tracks exist):

• Stay out of reserved light-rail lanes/track areas unless signs allow general traffic
• Light rail vehicles need long distances to stop and cannot swerve like a car — do not gamble on gaps
• Watch for pedestrians walking to and from stops across your path
• Never queue in a way that blocks light rail movement
• At junctions near light rail, expect multi-directional conflicts: road traffic, rails, and foot traffic together

Buses create similar kerbside surges of pedestrians. When a bus stops, assume people may cross in front of or behind it — do not overtake a bus at a stop without a clear view of pedestrians.

Sudden Moves: Defensive Prediction

Part B rewards drivers who anticipate, not only those who react.

Predict these patterns

1. Pedestrian from between vehicles — especially near schools and markets
2. Cyclist swerve around a hazard or parked car door
3. Motorcycle filter up your nearside as you prepare to turn
4. Passenger walking behind the taxi after paying or unloading
5. Child separating from adult at the kerb
6. Umbrella users in rain stepping without looking

Professional controls

• Speed low enough for the environment (legal maximum is not the target)
• Two-second (or longer) gaps so you are not forced into panic braking that throws passengers
• Cover the brake in dense pedestrian zones without riding it harshly
• Cancel phone distraction and cabin arguments that steal scanning time (fitness/attention link to Section 12.1)

Professional Driver Courtesy as Safety

Courtesy is not mere politeness for five-star ratings; it is collision prevention under another name.

Courtesy behaviours that score on the exam and in real work

• Early, clear signals so cyclists and pedestrians can predict you
• Smooth acceleration and braking so following two-wheelers are not surprised
• Yielding when the rules or safety require it — not “winning” the junction
• Waiting the extra two seconds for an elderly pedestrian to finish crossing
• Choosing a lawful set-down that does not dump passengers into a bike lane or live traffic
• Accepting that a slow cyclist ahead may delay you briefly; unsafe overtaking costs more

Unprofessional behaviours the exam punishes

Putting Sharing Rules Together

Use this short scan every time the scene densifies:

1. Who is vulnerable here? Child, elderly person, cyclist, motorcyclist, light-rail passenger?
2. Where are my blind spots? Nearside especially before left moves and kerb stops.
3. Do I have space and time? If not, slow or wait.
4. Is my planned stop lawful and kerb-safe? If not, choose another place.
5. Will my next two seconds surprise someone smaller than me? If yes, change the plan.

Common Exam Traps

Closing Checklist for Section 13.2

1. Share the road: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, light rail are normal users.
2. Extra care for children and elderly — time, unpredictability, slower crossing.
3. Room and blind spots for cyclists and motorcyclists; no close passes or left hooks.
4. Sudden-move mindset at markets, schools, stands, bus/light-rail stops.
5. Courtesy = safety: signals, gaps, patience, lawful kerbside set-down.
6. No size-based or hire-based priority claims over vulnerable users.

Next, Section 13.3 focuses the vulnerable-user rules onto zebra crossings, green man crossings, zigzag controls, and yellow boxes — the marked places where Part B most often tests whether you protect people on foot.