At what speed should the driver of a passenger car drive behind this vehicle if the tunnel is outside a built-up area and its length is 600 m?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
A. Such speed as to maintain a distance of at least 50 m.
Explanation
In the photo you are driving through a lit tunnel behind a passenger car. The tunnel is outside a built-up area and is 600 m long, so you drive at a speed that lets you keep a following distance of at least 50 m - answer A.
The Road Traffic Act requires a driver outside a built-up area, in tunnels longer than 500 m, to keep a following distance from the vehicle in front of no less than 50 m if they are driving a vehicle with a maximum permissible mass of no more than 3.5 t or a bus, and 80 m if they are driving a vehicle combination or another vehicle; the traffic management authority may reduce or increase these distances with signs. The tunnel is 600 m long, so the 500 m threshold is exceeded, and a passenger car weighs less than 3.5 t - so 50 m applies. Answer B, 80 m, would apply to a lorry or a car with a trailer; answer C, 5 m, is a distance that cannot be accepted even in a traffic jam. In a tunnel there is no shoulder and no escape route, and an accident often means fire and smoke, which is why the Act requires a much greater distance here than on an open road. You estimate the distance using the posts or markings on the tunnel walls.
Legal basis: Art. 19 para. 4 and 5 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)