10.3 Sharing the Road with Vulnerable Users

Vulnerable users pay first when drivers fail

A car encloses you in steel, glass, and (if you obeyed Section 10.2) belts. A pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, or keke rider has little or none of that protection. The Highway Code’s categories of road users (Chapter 2) already taught that each group has rights and duties. Section 10.3 is the driver-side operational chapter: how you drive so vulnerable road users (VRUs) survive contact with your two tonnes of metal.

Quick Answer: Watch for pedestrians (children, elderly), cyclists, motorcyclists, and keke tricycles. Use extra care at crossings, markets, schools, and bus stops. Motorcyclists need helmets; you must expect filtering and leave space when overtaking. Do not intimidate VRUs. On rural roads, expect animals — slow early, do not swerve into oncoming traffic.

Defensive SIPDE (Chapter 9) is written for this problem: Search far enough to see a child at the kerb; Predict that an okada may cut across; Execute early speed reduction rather than a last-second horn blast.

---

Who counts as vulnerable on Nigerian roads

The Code notes that children, the elderly, and people under alcohol/drugs are often involved in pedestrian crashes — your search pattern must prioritise them.

---

Pedestrians: crossings, markets, schools, bus stops

Zebra / pedestrian crossings

Practice bank rule: when approaching a pedestrian crossing, slow down and stop to yield to any pedestrian who has stepped onto the crossing. Wrong options include sounding the horn to “clear” people, maintaining speed to beat them across, or stopping only if a warden is present.

Recall Chapter 2 nuance for pedestrians themselves: they should ensure it is safe even at a zebra — but your CBT duty as a driver is to give way once they are on the crossing, not to bully them off it.

Markets and roadside trade

Nigerian roads often have traders, goods, and customers at the edge of the carriageway. Hazards:

• Shoppers stepping backward with loads.
• Children running between stalls.
• Parked vehicles hiding people about to cross.
• Okadas stopping abruptly for passengers.

Defence: lower speed before the dense zone, leave lateral space, cover the brake, refuse aggressive overtaking through the crowd. Horn use to intimidate pedestrians is the opposite of Highway Code consideration.

Schools

Near schools, expect:

• Sudden child movement at opening/closing times.
• Parents’ vehicles stopping unpredictably.
• Crossing patrols or informal marshals.

Reduce speed even if the general built-up limit is 50 km/h for private cars — conditions, not ego, set your actual speed (Chapter 6). Search both sides for balls, bags, and running groups.

Bus stops and motor parks

People surge toward buses; attention is on the bus, not on you. Predict doors, alighting passengers walking in front of the bus, and kekes competing for the same kerb space. Never overtake a stopped bus on the side where passengers are alighting without extreme caution — better to wait.

Night pedestrians

Chapter 9.2 already cut night speed and demanded proper lights. Pedestrians without reflective clothing appear late. Scan edges; use the right-side reference if dazzled; assume a dark shape near the shoulder may be a person.

---

Cyclists

Cyclists obey traffic rules as vehicle users in Code teaching and should ride single file, signal, and maintain lamps/reflectors — but you must still:

• Check mirrors and blind spots before turning or opening space.
• Give a wide berth when overtaking (air turbulence and slight steering wobble matter).
• Not force them into gutters, open drains, or parked-car doors.
• Expect them to be less visible in rain and harmattan haze.

Do not pass a cyclist then immediately cut right across their path to turn or park.

---

Motorcyclists (okada) and helmets

Their duties (what the CBT may still ask drivers to know)

Chapter 2 / Code themes for riders include:

• Safety helmet even on short trips.
• Generally one passenger limit themes on motorcycles.
• Proper gear and lights.
• Obeying traffic controls like other vehicles.

As a car driver you cannot force a stranger to belt a helmet on — but exam stems about motorcycle safety still expect helmet as the correct protective answer. Unhelmeted riders are more likely to die; your space still matters either way.

Filtering and small profile

Okadas often move between lanes or along edges (filtering). Implications for you:

• Before changing lanes, shoulder-check — mirrors alone miss narrow bikes.
• When stopped in queue, keep wheels straight and be ready; a bike may appear beside you.
• Do not close gaps spitefully to “block” bikes; that is intimidation, not defence.
• At junctions, look specifically for two-wheelers approaching faster than you expect in your peripheral vision.

Overtaking two-wheelers

When you overtake a motorcycle or bicycle:

1. Check ahead and behind; signal if required.
2. Leave extra lateral space — more than you would give a car’s mirror line.
3. Do not return to the right (Nigeria drives on the right; you typically overtake on the left) until you can see the two-wheeler clearly in your mirror with space to spare.
4. Never “teach them a lesson” with a close pass after they filtered earlier.

Close passes kill: a slight wobble, pothole, or wind gust puts the rider into your side panel.

---

Keke (tricycles)

Commercial tricycles are slow relative to cars, stop frequently for passengers, and may occupy an awkward width. Driver habits:

• Patience over aggressive horn pressure.
• Safe following distance — they brake hard for fares.
• Overtake only when legal and the road ahead is clear (Chapter 5 prohibitions still apply: crests, bends, solid lines, crossings).
• Expect passengers alighting into the road on the kerb side.

Kekes are VRUs relative to heavy vehicles and fast cars even though they have a partial cabin — treat them as unstable, stop-prone partners, not obstacles to bully.

---

Do not intimidate VRUs

Intimidation includes:

• Sustained horn abuse at pedestrians on a crossing.
• Driving at cyclists or okadas to force them off line.
• Splashing pedestrians at speed through puddles on purpose.
• High-beam punishment or brake-checking after a bike filtered.
• Racing past school children to “make time.”

Highway Code defensive attitude: patience, care, skill, consideration. Provocative behaviour by others does not authorise your retaliation (Chapter 9.1 definition includes provocative actions of others — you still save lives, money, and time).

---

Animals on rural and peri-urban roads

Cattle, goats, sheep, dogs, and other animals appear on Nigerian roads, especially:

• Village edges and unfenced grazing.
• Dusk and night (low contrast).
• After rain when animals seek dry carriageway.

Correct response package:

• Search for silhouettes far ahead (SIPDE Search 20–30 seconds).
• Slow early; do not rely on horn alone at the last second.
• Predict sudden lateral movement of the herd.
• Avoid swerving into the opposing lane into a head-on crash — controlled slow/stop is usually safer than a heroic swerve.
• After passing, rebuild speed only when the road is clear.

Hitting large livestock can destroy your vehicle and kill occupants; small animals can still cause loss of control if you panic.

---

Integrated SIPDE scenes for VRUs

Scene A — School gate, 2 p.m. Identify children and parked cars. Predict a child running for a parent. Decide lower speed and ready brake. Execute early — not a late horn.

Scene B — Market corridor. Identify traders and okadas. Predict a backward step with a load. Decide lateral space and crawl speed. Execute without overtaking through the crowd.

Scene C — Okada in mirror gap. Identify filterer. Predict cut-across. Decide hold steady path, do not squeeze. Execute calm gap management.

Scene D — Zebra with pedestrian mid-crossing. Yield fully; no “inching” to scare them back.

Scene E — Goats near a rural bend. Slow before the bend; no blind overtake; no swerve into oncoming traffic.

---

Memory hooks for Section 10.3

1. VRUs = pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, keke (+ animals as special hazard).
2. Hot zones: crossings, markets, schools, bus stops.
3. Yield when pedestrian is on the crossing; no horn-bullying.
4. Helmets for riders; space + blind-spot checks for drivers.
5. Overtake two-wheelers with extra room; no intimidation.
6. Animals: early slow, stable control, no panic head-on swerve.

Link forward

Chapter 11 collects FRSC mandate, offence codes, and fines (DUI, SUV, CRV, EWT, DGD, UPD, and more) so booking-sheet letters become automatic. Chapter 12 covers duties after a crash and first aid — what you do when prevention and protection were not enough. Your VRU habits in 10.3 are still the best first-aid: crashes avoided.

Overtaking a two-wheeler — micro checklist

1. Legal place? (Not crest, bend, solid line, junction, crossing.)
2. Mirror + shoulder check for other bikes.
3. Signal if needed; move out with wide lateral gap.
4. Pass smoothly; do not cut back until the rider is clear in the mirror.
5. Never “punish” filtering with a close pass.

Hot-zone speed mindset

Posted limits are maxima in ideal conditions. Near schools, markets, and dense pedestrian edges, condition speed is lower. SIPDE fails if you arrive at the hazard already above a stoppable speed.