Can you exceed 80 km/h when overtaking on the motorway with a passenger car and a light trailer?

In the photo, you are driving on a motorway; in front of you in the right lane there is a vehicle combination: a car with a caravan, and in the left lane there are more cars. When driving a passenger car with a light trailer, you cannot exceed 80 km/h when overtaking on a motorway. The answer is: no.

The Road Traffic Act states that the speed limit outside a built-up area for a vehicle combination or a vehicle not listed among passenger cars, motorcycles and lorries up to 3.5 t is 80 km/h on a motorway, an expressway or a dual carriageway with at least two lanes in each direction, and 70 km/h on other roads. A passenger car with a trailer - even a light one, up to 750 kg - is a vehicle combination, so the 140 km/h limit for a passenger car no longer applies, and 80 km/h applies instead. Overtaking changes nothing here: no rule allows you to exceed the speed limit "for a moment" to finish the manoeuvre faster. If you cannot overtake with a trailer without exceeding 80 km/h, it means you should not overtake. The reason for the limit: at higher speeds the trailer starts to "snake" (sway from side to side), and the combination takes longer to brake.

Legal basis: Art. 20 para. 3 point 2 letter a and point 1 letter a and Art. 2 point 49, 50 and 51 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)