5.1 Overtaking Rules & Prohibitions

Why Overtaking Is a High-Stakes CBT Topic

Overtaking is one of the most dangerous everyday manoeuvres on Nigerian roads. It combines speed change, lane change, judgment of distance, and interaction with oncoming or parallel traffic. The Nigeria Highway Code (Part Two — Road Use Activities, Section VIII) treats overtaking as a privilege you earn only when conditions are clearly safe — not as a right to pass every slower vehicle.

The FRSC Driver's Licence CBT tests this topic because many fatal head-on and sideswipe crashes start with an illegal or poorly judged overtake: at a crest, on solid lines, at a junction, or without checking the blind spot. Your exam answers should always reflect caution first. If two options look similar, choose the one that delays the overtake, returns you to the right, or refuses an illegal location.

Quick orientation: Nigeria drives on the right. You normally keep right and overtake on the left. After overtaking, you return to the right without cutting in. That left/right pattern is the opposite of left-hand-traffic countries (for example the UK) — do not import foreign habits into CBT answers.

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The Core Rule: Do Not Overtake Unless It Is Safe

The Highway Code opens Section VIII with a blunt command: do not overtake unless you are sure it is safe for you and other road users. "Sure" means more than a hopeful glance. Before you commit:

1. The road ahead must be clear for the full distance needed to pass and return.
2. The road behind must be clear enough that a faster vehicle will not close on you while you are out.
3. You must account for weather and visibility — dust, mist, rain, and night make speed and distance harder to judge.
4. You must leave the vehicle you pass plenty of room and not force anyone to brake or swerve.

On fast roads, vehicles may approach from behind much more quickly than you think. Always confirm that the lane you will enter is clear for a good distance both behind and in front of you.

Clear view is non-negotiable

If your view is blocked by a bend, a hill crest, a large vehicle, dust from a laterite road, or rain spray, do not overtake. A "maybe clear" gap is a fail on both the CBT and the road. Wait until you can see far enough to complete the whole manoeuvre with margin.

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The LSLM Routine: LOOK–SIGNAL–LOOK–MOVE

The Highway Code wants you to remember a fixed sequence before you leave your lane to overtake:

REMEMBER: LOOK–SIGNAL–LOOK again and MOVE ("LSLM"). Skipping any step is a classic cause of sideswipe and rear-end crashes during overtaking. On the CBT, if a stem asks the correct sequence before overtaking, LSLM (or the equivalent mirror–signal–blind-spot–move logic) is the expected pattern.

Use indicators early enough for others to react, but do not signal as a bluff while remaining in lane forever — that confuses following drivers. Signal with the intention to move when safe, not as decoration.

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Which Side Do You Overtake On?

Default rule: overtake only on the left

Because traffic keeps to the right, the normal overtaking side is the left. You move left into a clear lane or past the vehicle, pass it, then return right into the normal running path.

Highway Code exceptions — when you may pass on the right

Overtake only on the left except:

1. Driver ahead turning left — When the driver in front has signalled an intention to turn left, you may overtake on the right if there is safe, sufficient room. Stay alert: the driver may change mind or leave the signal on by mistake.
2. You are turning right — When you want to turn right at a junction and have signalled to do so, you may pass on the right as part of positioning for that turn (still only if safe).
3. Slow queues — When traffic is moving slowly in queues and vehicles in the left lane are moving slower than you, you may pass on the right within the queueing logic of multi-lane flow (not a licence to race between lanes recklessly).
4. One-way streets — In a one-way street, vehicles may pass on either side because there is no opposing flow in the opposite direction on that carriageway.

Memorise these four exceptions for the CBT. Outside them, left is the correct overtaking side. "I was in a hurry" or "the left was busy" is not an exception.

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Completing the Pass: Speed, Space, and Returning Right

Once you have started to overtake:

• Move past the vehicle as quickly as is safely possible (within the speed limit) so you do not linger alongside it.
• Leave the vehicle plenty of room — do not scrape past with centimetres of clearance.
• Then move back to the right side of the road as soon as you can, but without cutting in.

Cutting in

Cutting in means pulling back right so early that the vehicle you passed must brake or swerve. The Highway Code forbids this. Wait until you can see the passed vehicle clearly in your interior mirror (a common practical teaching cue) and the gap is comfortable, then signal and return right smoothly.

Dangerous last-moment moves

Do not:

• Accelerate hard against the rear of the vehicle in front and then dart left at the last moment
• Assume the vehicle ahead will maintain speed — it may brake suddenly for a pothole, pedestrian, or checkpoint
• Always move out from a safe distance, not from a bumper-hugging position

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When You Are Being Overtaken

Cooperation is a legal safety duty, not optional courtesy.

• Do not accelerate when another vehicle is overtaking you.
• Slow down if necessary to help the overtaking vehicle complete the pass safely.
• Keep a steady line; do not drift left into the overtaking path.
• Stay aware that the other driver may misjudge — your mild deceleration can prevent a head-on crash with oncoming traffic.

Racing an overtaking vehicle is how two cars meet a third vehicle head-on. The CBT expects the calm answer: ease off and let them past.

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Parked Vehicles and Roadside Obstructions

On an ordinary two-lane road, give way to vehicles coming towards you before you overtake parked vehicles or other obstructions on your right side of the road. If both directions face obstacles (double-parked vehicles, road works, potholes, or heaps of refuse — common Nigerian roadside realities), the general rule is that the vehicle further from the stationary object should slow or stop to let the nearer vehicle go first. Common sense and mutual caution still apply; never compete for "speed supremacy."

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Where You Must NOT Overtake

The Highway Code lists locations and conditions where overtaking is prohibited. Learn this list cold — exam stems often pick one location and ask what you must not do there.

Do not overtake at or when coming to:

Double solid white lines mean no crossing or straddling to overtake for traffic in either direction. If the centre marking is a solid line on your side (with a broken line on the other), you still must not cross the solid line nearer you to pass.

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Overtaking Decision Filter: Safe? Legal? Necessary?

Before every overtake, run the Highway Code guides:

1. Is it safe? Clear view, enough space and time, weather acceptable, no forced braking for others.
2. Is it legal? Not at a banned location; markings and signs allow it; correct side for the situation.
3. Is it necessary? Will waiting a few seconds behind a slightly slower vehicle cost less than a crash risk?

If in doubt, do not overtake. That single sentence is exam gold. When a stem describes uncertainty — "you cannot quite see," "the solid line begins," "a bend is ahead" — the correct choice is to hold position, not to "take a calculated risk."

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Scenarios for Exam Thinking

Scenario: Dual carriageway near a bend

Emeka is behind a slow truck on a dual carriageway. The left lane looks empty for a short stretch, but a gentle left bend limits the view. Correct action: do not overtake until the view opens. A clear "maybe" is not enough under Highway Code safety language.

Scenario: Solid line nearer you

Fatima wants to pass a slow keke convoy. The centre line nearest her is solid white. Correct action: remain behind until a broken line (and safe conditions) allow a legal cross. Solid line nearer you = no overtaking across it.

Scenario: Being overtaken on an open road

A faster car signals and pulls left to pass Ibrahim. Ibrahim speeds up because he "was almost at his turn." Wrong. Correct: maintain or reduce speed, keep right, let the pass finish, then continue.

Scenario: Vehicle signalling left

A car ahead indicates left to enter a compound. There is clear space on the right. You may carefully pass on the right under the exception — but watch for a cancelled or mistaken signal and for pedestrians walking out from the left turn.

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CBT Memory Card

Master this section and you will handle a large family of FRSC theory items on overtaking, centre lines, and courtesy when being passed. The next section applies the same right-hand logic to everyday lane discipline on multi-lane roads.