Choosing and Changing Lanes

Choosing: on a multi-lane road, the rule mirrors the rule of the road itself — default to the leftmost lane. Two legitimate reasons to be anywhere else:

• You're overtaking, using the lane to your right temporarily and returning left once it's safe and complete.
• Lane-destination signage shows the lanes lead to different places — pick the lane matching your route in good time, not at the last moment.

What's not legitimate: treating slow traffic as an invitation to weave between lanes hunting for gaps. Lane-hopping in heavy traffic is illegal, and it's one of the more common causes of low-speed side-swipes in congested city traffic.

Changing: every lane change follows the same disciplined sequence, however minor it feels:

1. Check the traffic ahead — confirm you have a safe reason and a gap.
2. Mirrors, in order — rear-view, then the side mirror on the side you're moving toward.
3. Blind spot — physically turn your head. Mirrors don't cover it, and this is exactly where a boda boda or cyclist is most likely to be missed.
4. Indicate — before you move, not while you're moving.
5. Wait a moment and read the road. Are drivers around you slowing to let you in, speeding up, or not registering your signal at all?
6. Blind spot again, immediately before moving.
7. Move smoothly. If a vehicle is close behind in the new lane, a small increase in speed as you move over is right — don't cut in and then slow down, forcing them to brake.

And the line rule sits on top of all of it: you may not cross into the neighbouring lane if the line on your side of the boundary is solid. A broken line permits the change when the procedure confirms it's safe — but a solid line overrides everything, even a completely clear gap.