When passing an electric scooter, are you obliged to keep a minimum distance of 1 m?

The question is about passing an oncoming electric scooter (wymijanie), that is, going past it when it is coming from the opposite direction. When passing an oncoming vehicle, the minimum distance of 1 m does not apply. The answer is: no.

The Road Traffic Act states that when passing an oncoming vehicle, the driver of a vehicle is obliged to keep a safe distance from the vehicle or road user being passed and, if necessary, to move to the right and reduce speed or stop. The Act sets a fixed distance of at least 1 m only for overtaking - a bicycle, a motorcycle, a moped, an electric scooter and the other vehicles and persons listed there, including a column of pedestrians - and overtaking means driving past someone travelling in the same direction. Passing an oncoming vehicle means going past someone travelling in the opposite direction, and here the Act only speaks of a "safe distance", without a number. This does not mean that you may drive right next to them: a scooter is unstable, and when you pass each other your speeds add up, so a sensible distance is still at least a metre, and on a narrow road you move to the right and slow down. The difference is legal, not practical: in the exam, what counts is that "minimum 1 m" applies to overtaking, not to passing an oncoming vehicle.

Legal basis: Art. 23 para. 1 point 1, Art. 24 para. 2 and Art. 2 point 26 and 28 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)