In this scenario, should you check the left-side mirror before overtaking to make sure the manoeuvre is possible?

In the video, you are driving at sunset on a two-way road among trees behind a grey car; a cyclist is coming from the opposite direction. Before deciding to overtake, you must make sure that the manoeuvre is possible, among other things by looking in the left exterior mirror. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act states that before overtaking, the driver of a vehicle is obliged to make sure in particular that they have adequate visibility and sufficient space to overtake without obstructing anyone's traffic, that the driver behind them has not started overtaking, and that the driver in front of them in the same lane has not signalled an intention to overtake, change direction or change lanes. You check that nobody is overtaking you precisely by looking in the mirrors - the interior mirror and the left exterior mirror - and over your left shoulder into the blind spot, which the mirrors do not show. Without this, you do not know whether someone faster is already next to you; pulling out to the left at such a moment ends in a side collision. Here there is also the cyclist coming from the opposite direction: until you have passed them, overtaking is out of the question, because you need their lane.

Legal basis: Art. 24 para. 1 point 1-3 and Art. 23 para. 1 point 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)