What should drivers do when passing a stopped bus in Northern Ireland?

Pass a stopped bus carefully and slowly because passengers, especially children, may emerge into the road from in front of or behind it.

The Highway Code specifically identifies bus stops as places where pedestrians can appear suddenly.

For “What should drivers do when passing a stopped bus in Northern Ireland?”, the wider Northern Ireland context is this: This is a vulnerable-road-user question, so the Northern Ireland Highway Code expects drivers to plan for people who may be harder to see, slower to react or more easily injured. The Code repeatedly stresses lower speed, wider clearance, observation and patience around pedestrians, cyclists, children and horse riders rather than treating priority as a licence to press on.

For this exact question — “What should drivers do when passing a stopped bus in Northern Ireland?” — the practical point is: Leave extra clearance, watch the pavement and do not accelerate aggressively around the bus simply because your lane looks clear. The answer should be applied to the actual signs, conditions, licence wording or parking rules in force at the time, because temporary restrictions and individual DVA decisions can change the ordinary position.

This Northern Ireland-specific page on “What should drivers do when passing a stopped bus in Northern Ireland?” was checked against the attached official sources before publication, with nidirect/DVA and the Northern Ireland Highway Code used ahead of generic UK motoring articles. If the rule, road layout or personal licence condition changes, those primary sources are the ones to re-check.