Is the driver of a tractor unit with a tanker driving in the left lane obliged to allow the vehicle in front of you to change lanes to the adjacent one?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
NO
Explanation
In the photo there is a street in town with two lanes in your direction: you are driving in the right lane behind a car, and a tractor unit with a tanker is driving in the left lane; further ahead the right lane ends, as a sign warns, but there is still some distance to the point where the lane ends. The driver of the tanker is not required to allow the vehicle in front of you to change lanes at this point already. The answer is: no.
The Road Traffic Act states that when there is a significant reduction in speed on a roadway with more than one lane in the same direction, and driving in a lane is not possible because of an obstacle or because the lane ends, the driver in the neighbouring lane must allow one vehicle from that lane to change lanes - but directly before the point where the obstacle is or the lane ends. The word "directly" is key: the obligation to let someone in arises only at the narrowing itself, not where the driver in the ending lane has only just seen the sign. At this point the right lane still exists, so the vehicle in front of you should continue in it, to the end, and the driver of the tanker in the left lane does not have to make room yet.
Legal basis: Art. 22 para. 4 and 4a of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)