When approaching a pedestrian crossing, are you obliged to observe the surrounding area?

In the video you are driving along a street in a town and approaching a pedestrian crossing marked with sign D-6 with plate T-27 on a yellow background; pedestrians are walking along the pavement on the right, and a white car is driving in front of you. When approaching the crossing, you must watch the area around it. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act requires a driver approaching a pedestrian crossing to exercise particular caution, to reduce speed so as not to endanger a pedestrian who is on the crossing or stepping onto it, and to give way to a pedestrian on the crossing or stepping onto it. The Regulation on road signs and signals states that plate T-27 shows that the crossing is used especially often by children. Watching the surroundings is a condition for carrying out these duties: a pedestrian, especially a child, may step onto the crossing suddenly, from behind a post, a bus shelter or a parked car, and the car driving in front of you hides part of the crossing from you. So you look at both pavements, at people standing at the kerb and at whether the driver in front of you is starting to brake. Before a crossing you do not overtake and you do not go around a vehicle that has stopped to let a pedestrian cross - this is one of the most dangerous mistakes.

Legal basis: Art. 26 para. 1 and para. 3 point 1-2 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym); § 47 para. 4 and 5 of the Regulation on road signs and signals