Hope: Dear Lagos Motorist…

Dear Lagos Motorist,
This has been a long time coming but I can’t hold this in for much longer. There are white broken lines on the road used to border lanes, please use them. These lines do not belong under the car or under tyres. You should see them on the side when you look through your side mirrors. Please quit using double lanes. You drive a car, not a robotic transformer that is too large to fit in ‘one’ lane.

Dear Lagos Motorist, indicating your direction does not automatically give you the right to change lane or make a sudden turn. You still have to consider the oncoming speeding car behind or in front of you. Don’t just change lanes because you ‘traffficated’; wait to ensure there’s enough allowance between you and oncoming vehicles.

Dear Lagos Motorist, on a highway, the inner left lane is the fastest lane, kindly refrain from driving below speed limit (I know, I know, there’s no set speed limit, but kindly use the average speed of surrounding passing vehicles) on this lane. You make it difficult to navigate on the road.

If you really have to use the phone, could you please park or at least move to the outermost lane? Gracias!

Dear Lagos Motorist, when making a left turn, please drive forward and turn on to the lane. Stop cutting onto the road, and facing the oncoming car on your right. It is really annoying.

Also, please quit practising the Sunday ‘holy’ or lasseiz faire driving. Driving at 10km per hour on the fast lane isn’t just annoying, it is dangerous to you and other road users.

Dear Lagos Motorist, trust me. It’s okay to stop for pedestrians or allow a vehicle get ahead of you, it will not kill you..I promise.

Oh, did I forget to add that flashing your headlights at an oncoming vehicle who obviously has the right of way in a narrow path that allows one vehicle at a time, or flashing to an oncoming speeding vehicle to stop so you can ‘quickly’ make your ‘ urgent and cannot wait’ left turn is absolutely ridiculous.

Please imbibe patience. It is a major virtue that saves lives and promotes orderliness.

Until we meet on the roads,
Ciao!