When must drivers give way to pedestrians under the Northern Ireland Highway Code?

Drivers must give way where the Highway Code or traffic controls require it, including to pedestrians who have already started crossing a road into which the driver is turning.

At driveways, drivers should also give way to pedestrians on the footway or footpath they are crossing. Crossing types have additional rules.

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 — “When must drivers give way to pedestrians under the Northern Ireland Highway Code?” — the practical point is: Approach junctions and crossings at a speed that lets you stop, and never use a horn or wave to invite someone across if other traffic may still be moving. 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.