Will you be merging into traffic if you move, once the signal changes to green?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
NO
Explanation
In the photo, we are approaching a junction with a pedestrian crossing; there are traffic lights on a post on the right, with sign D-1 "priority road" above them, and a second set of traffic lights hangs above the roadway. Both sets of traffic lights are showing a red signal. When you move off after the signal changes to green, you are not joining traffic (włączanie się do ruchu) - the answer is NO.
Joining traffic happens when you start driving after parking or stopping that was not caused by traffic conditions or traffic rules, and also when you enter a road from, among other places, a property, a pavement or a dirt road. Stopping at a red light is required by road traffic rules, so when you move off on green, you continue driving as an ordinary road user. So you do not have to give way in the way a driver joining traffic does, but the rules of the junction still apply to you: you let through pedestrians who are finishing crossing the roadway and vehicles that are still leaving the junction. You move off smoothly, watching the junction.
Legal basis: Art. 17 para. 1 and 2 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym); § 95 para. 1 and 2 of the Regulation on road signs and signals