In this scenario, do you have the right to cross the railway tracks without being sure that there’s enough space to continue driving on the other side of the level crossing?

In the photo you are approaching a level crossing with the half-barriers up and the signal switched off; beyond the level crossing, some distance ahead of you, there is a white car. You are not entitled to enter the tracks if you are not sure that there is room to continue on the other side of the level crossing. The answer is: no.

The Road Traffic Act prohibits a driver from entering a level crossing if there is no room on the other side of it to continue driving. Raised barriers and lights switched off only mean that no train is coming at this moment - they do not guarantee that the red light will not come on in five seconds. If the car in front of you slows down or stops just beyond the tracks, entering the level crossing may end with you stopping on the tracks, and then the half-barriers coming down will shut you in between the barriers with a train on its way. The rule is the same as at a junction: you do not enter if you cannot see where you will get out. You stop before the tracks and wait until there is enough room on the other side for your whole car to fit beyond the level crossing - only then do you move off, and without changing gear on the tracks.

Legal basis: Art. 28 para. 3 point 2 and para. 4 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)