A minibus stopping without signal, a pedestrian on the edge and a tailgater
It is 4:40 pm on a two-lane road near a busy market, one lane each way, with the low sun ahead of you. A minibus about 30 m in front begins to slow sharply without indicating, drifting towards the edge near a gap between stalls. Behind you a car is following at roughly two car lengths. The oncoming lane carries a steady line of traffic. A man carrying a bag of produce is walking along the edge of your lane, ahead of the minibus. There is a wet patch and a pothole on your side of the road, and a side road enters from the left about 50 m ahead.
1. What do you expect the minibus to do next, and why is overtaking it now the wrong move?
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Predict the most likely thing, not the most convenient one. A minibus slowing near a market gap with no indicator is almost certainly stopping to pick up or set down. Expect doors to open, passengers to step into the road, and the bus to pull out again without much warning - minibus drivers work to a timetable, not to your plans.
Why not to overtake:
- The pedestrian is walking along the edge of your lane; swinging out puts you closer to him, and he may step around the pothole or the wet patch straight into your path.
- The oncoming lane is a solid line of traffic - there is no gap to pass into anyway.
- The side road 50 m ahead adds a vehicle that could pull out in front of a car already committed to an overtake.
- The low sun cuts your view of exactly the things you most need to see - brake lights, a pedestrian's silhouette, a car emerging.
- The tailgater behind leaves you no room to abort and tuck back in.
So the answer is to slow, hold back and create space, not to go round.
2. How does the tailgating car change the way you follow the minibus and brake?
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The tailgater has removed your rear margin, so you must buy it back at the front.
- Increase the gap ahead from the normal two-second following distance to three or four seconds. That extra space is what lets you slow gradually instead of braking hard.
- Brake early and gently, using light pressure to show brake lights before you really need them, so the follower gets a clear message with time to react.
- Signal early for any change of position, and avoid sudden swerves for the pothole - a gentle line is safer than a sharp one when someone is sitting on your bumper.
- Never brake-check. Punishing the follower risks a rear-end collision that will involve you and the pedestrian ahead.
- Consider letting it pass when the oncoming lane clears - a tailgater in front of you is safer than one behind you.
Keep watching your mirror, but do not let it pull your attention off the minibus and the pedestrian.
3. The minibus stops and a passenger steps into the road while the man with the produce moves towards your lane. Set out your plan in sequence.
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Before it happens: you have already slowed and increased your gap, so you are arriving at walking pace rather than emergency-braking speed. Foot is covering the brake, not on the accelerator.
The sequence:
- Brake progressively and early - the tailgater needs a clear, early brake-light signal; a late stamp on the pedal is how rear-end shunts happen.
- Stop short of the minibus, leaving enough room to see its front wheels and to move out if it stalls - not nose-to-tail.
- Give way to the passenger and the man with the produce. A pedestrian already in the road has priority over your progress; a wave to acknowledge them costs nothing and reduces the chance of a hesitant dart.
- Check the mirror - if the follower is still closing, sound the horn briefly to warn and be ready for an impact from behind.
- Watch the side road and the minibus's front wheels before moving off - the bus pulling out without indicating is the next predictable event.
Patience here costs thirty seconds. The alternative costs a pedestrian's leg or a written-off car.