In this scenario, should you anticipate that the pedestrian will step onto the road directly in front of your vehicle?

In the video, you are driving at sunset along a narrow residential street; on the right, right next to the edge of the roadway, a man in dark clothing is walking with his back to you, and in the following shots he gets closer to the roadway. You should anticipate that he will step onto the roadway directly in front of your vehicle. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act requires the driver to be careful and to avoid any action that could put anyone in danger, and the principle of limited trust allows you to assume that others obey the rules - unless the circumstances indicate that they may behave differently. A pedestrian walking right next to the edge of the roadway, with his back to the traffic, in dark clothing against the sun, is such a circumstance: he does not see you, may not hear you, and his route and your path are converging. It is true that the Act prohibits pedestrians from stepping onto the roadway directly in front of a moving vehicle and from behind an obstacle, but the fact that a pedestrian should not do it does not mean that he will not do it - and in a collision with a car, it is he who will lose. That is why you slow down, move to the left as far as the roadway allows, and are ready to brake until you have gone past him at a safe distance.

Legal basis: Art. 3 para. 1, Art. 4 and Art. 14 point 1 letter a and b of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)