When travelling on a dual carriageway with a lorry of maximum permissible weight 7 tonnes, are you permitted to overtake a vehicle that is not carrying out maintenance work and travelling at a slightly slower speed?

The question is about overtaking on a dual-carriageway expressway in a lorry with a maximum permissible mass of 7 t when the vehicle in front is travelling only a little slower. You are not allowed to overtake it - the answer is NO.

The Road Traffic Act prohibits the driver of a vehicle of category N2 or N3 from overtaking a motor vehicle on a motorway or an expressway with only two lanes in a given direction, unless the vehicle being overtaken is travelling at a speed much lower than the speed permitted for such lorries on that road. A lorry with a maximum permissible mass of 7 t belongs to category N2, because it falls within the range from 3.5 to 12 t, so the ban covers it. A vehicle travelling only a little slower does not meet this condition. The second exception concerns vehicles carrying out cleaning, repair or modernisation work with flashing yellow lights - the question clearly says that this vehicle is not doing such work, so this exception does not apply either. The answer assumes a typical expressway with two lanes in each direction; with three lanes the ban would not apply, and the lorry could use the two right-hand lanes.

Legal basis: Art. 24 para. 13 and 14, Art. 16 para. 2a and Art. 20 para. 3 point 2 letter a of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)