You intend to turn left at the nearest junction. Should you immediately start changing lanes?

In the photo you are driving in the middle lane of a three-lane roadway in a town, next to separate tram tracks; you intend to turn left at the nearest junction. You should start changing lanes immediately. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act requires a driver, before turning left, to move close to the centre of the roadway or, on a one-way roadway, to its left edge, and to signal every change of lane with the indicator clearly and in good time, giving way to vehicles in the lane you are moving into. To turn left, you must move from the middle lane to the left lane, which means changing lanes - and this requires a look in the mirror and the blind spot, signalling and a gap in the traffic. The earlier you start, the more calmly you can do it; delaying leads to cutting sharply across lanes just before the junction or turning from the wrong lane, which is prohibited. That is why, as soon as you can see the junction where you are turning, you switch on the left indicator and move into the left lane as soon as a safe gap appears.

Legal basis: Art. 22 para. 2 point 2, para. 4 and 5 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)