6 Reasons Lagos Drivers Cannot Stop Honking

Lagos is known globally for its notorious traffic and residents of the metropolitan city have come to accept the dire gridlock. For the drivers, they need to have a snail-like patience to successfully navigate Lagos roads without honking or getting infuriated. Even with the introduction of the ‘No-horn Day’ by the Lagos state government in 2014 and the seeming effects of noise pollution like hypertension, rise in stress levels, ear loss; many Lagosians could not get their hands off their horn. In line with this, JumiaTravel, Africa’s No.1 hotel booking portal shares 5 reasons Lagos drivers cannot stop honking.

The driver ‘shopping’ on the highway

It is possible to shop on Lagos roads without necessarily going to the market. This is because you can get all you want on the road. Many drivers take advantage of this and they just park their car right in the middle of the road trying to buy Lacasera and Gala. They don’t even care about other road users. Hence, the other drivers have no choice than to horn. Afterwards, a shouting match will unavoidably ensue.

The Strolling pedestrian

It is arguably only in Lagos where you find a pedestrian strolling on a very busy highway while there is a pedestrian bridge just a stone’s throw away. Instead of the pedestrians to quicken their steps, they stroll. In other cases, you find some pedestrians engrossed in the music they are listening to. In other not to knock some of these carefree pedestrians, you have to honk so that they can get off the road. There have been reports of pedestrians been knocked down. The horn has saved many lives.  

The Danfos picking commuters

The yellow painted commercial buses are one of the key contributors to Lagos traffic. They act as if they own the road. They drive recklessly and stop indiscriminately. They stop at unauthorised stops for passengers to alight and do same when they pick passengers. The annoying thing is that they do this in the centre of a busy road. Despite the fact that the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) officials have made painstaking efforts to clamp down on them without any significant changes.  

Stop and search policemen

Policemen are meant to ensure security and contribute in no small measure to guarantee free-flowing traffic. This is not the case with the policemen because they mount illegal checkpoints that slow traffic. Many drivers believe that the checkpoints cause unnecessary delays. To make them move faster, drivers have to honk.

The dulling driver

The sluggish or dulling driver will be ‘chased’ off the road by the  honking of exceedingly impatient drivers. If the driver is unlucky to be close to a truck, the deafening honk of the truck will confuse, frighten and destabilise such a driver.   

More traffic, more honking

Except something drastic is done about the traffic about the traffic, Lagos drivers will continue to honk. For some drivers, honking is a habit as they honk every minute even if there is no reason for honking.