By Oluwatobiloba Gideon Oludayomi
In my previous article, I spoke about two major issues that were particularly pressing. But as I became more engaged with the conversation that followed, I realized that there were other underlying issues that also needed to be addressed.
There is a code on our roads that no government agency wrote and no driving school teaches. You will not find it in the Highway Code. You will not find it in any manual. Yet every responsible driver knows it exists, because the moment it is broken, everyone on that road feels it immediately.
I call it the driver code.
It is not about traffic lights or lane markings. It is about the understanding that should exist between one human being and another, simply because both happen to be moving in the same direction at the same time. You keep your distance. You anticipate the vehicle ahead. You give another driver reasonable space when he needs it. You remember that the road does not belong to you alone.
In Lagos, we struggle with this more than we admit.
Consider something simple. You leave a safe distance between your car and the one ahead of you. That gap exists for your own protection. But somehow, in our roads, that same gap becomes an opportunity for someone else. The moment you create it, another driver sees it and thinks, that space belongs to me now. Before you know it, a vehicle has forced its way in, and you are left managing the consequences of another man's impatience.
This is where sportsmanship comes in. Driving is not a competition. Every person on that road is trying to get somewhere, just like you. You do not have to fight for every inch of tarmac to prove a point.
Most road conflict in Lagos is not caused by bad roads. It is caused by bad attitudes meeting on good roads.
I have watched drivers manoeuvre skillfully out of a difficult situation, only to enter another lane and suddenly lose focus. They slow down. They pick up their phone. They start looking around as if they forgot where they were going. If you have successfully removed yourself from a clumsy situation, complete the movement. Regain your speed. Continue your journey. Do not create a new problem while celebrating your escape from the old one.
Life mirrors this constantly. Many of us fight hard to get out of a bad season, only to lose momentum the moment we feel a little relief. We slow down too early. We start entertaining distractions before we have fully arrived at safety. The wise man finishes the race, not just the difficult stretch of it.
Let me be honest. I am not entirely innocent here either. But truth must still be told. Holding your phone while driving is not a small matter. It is indiscipline dressed as urgency.
If someone calls you while you are driving, you can simply say, I am driving, let me call you back. That sentence has never killed anyone. What has killed people is a driver reading a message instead of reading the road ahead.
Holding a phone does not make you look busy. It does not make you look important. It makes you distracted, and your distraction becomes a danger to everyone around you, especially those closest to your vehicle. We honestly need to do better than this.
New drivers on Lagos roads often make one mistake. They sit comfortably in the fast lane while unsure of their route. If you do not know where you are going, the fast lane is not the place to figure that out. The middle or service lane gives you room to think without disrupting everyone behind you.
I experienced this on the Coastal Road. A driver in the fast lane suddenly remembered his turning and slammed the brakes without warning. Thankfully I was watching closely enough to react. Otherwise, one man's confusion could have become several people's disaster.
This is why anticipation matters, both on the road and in life. A man who does not know his direction should not occupy the fastest lane of decision making. Know your route, or move to a lane that allows you to learn it safely.
Sometimes a driver makes a mistake, and instead of simply avoiding it, another driver begins to shout, honk, and lecture him while both cars are still moving. I ask myself constantly, what exactly is being achieved here.
If you are observant, you can anticipate another person's error and protect yourself from it. That is what a mature driver does. You do not always need to prove someone wrong. Sometimes the wisest response is to create space, move past the danger, and continue your journey.
You do not know who is behind you. You do not know if someone is rushing to a hospital or racing against an emergency you cannot see. One unnecessary stop in the middle of the road can trigger a chain reaction that affects lives you will never meet.
Observe. Anticipate. Avoid. Continue. That, to me, is the heart of the driver code.
We will not all agree. We will not all drive the same kind of vehicle. We are not all headed to the same destination. But we share the same road, and that shared space demands a shared sense of responsibility.
Scripture reminds us that we should not merely look out for our own interests, but should take an interest in others too (Philippians 2:4, NLT). That single instruction, applied on our roads, would transform Lagos traffic more than any new flyover ever could.
Our roads will become safer the day we start giving reasonable space, anticipating one another, dropping unnecessary aggression, staying off our phones, and positioning ourselves properly before decisions are needed. That day is not far. It begins with one driver choosing to do better, one journey at a time.
Lagos drivers! we can honestly do better.
What other unwritten rules have you noticed on our roads? Share them below. Let us learn from one another, because the road teaches all of us something, if we are humble enough to listen.
* * *
Oluwatobiloba Gideon Oludayomi is a life coach, a practical writer, and a versatile entrepreneur creating wealth solutions through agriculture, real estate, and enterprise. He is the Convener of the Dominion Guild Network, an ecosystem of high value individuals, young and determined to becoming an empowered generation. He is the author of 'Build It to Last', 'I Thought I Married a Wife' (a novel), and 'Practical Love.'
