In this scenario, should you anticipate the possibility of a pedestrian stepping out from the front of the bus and be prepared to engage the brakes?

In the video, you are driving at night along a street in town; on the right, a city bus with its brake lights on is standing at a stop with sign D-15, and on the left there is a row of parked cars. You should anticipate that a pedestrian may come out from behind the bus, and be prepared to brake. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act requires you to drive at a speed that ensures control of the vehicle, taking traffic conditions into account, and prohibits actions that could put anyone in danger; the principle of limited trust requires you to allow for unusual behaviour by road users when the circumstances suggest it. A bus standing at a stop is a textbook example of such a circumstance: a passenger who has just got off often runs across the roadway in front of the bus or just behind it to get to the other side quickly, and comes out from behind the bodywork exactly where you cannot see; at night you notice them only in the light of your headlights. The Act prohibits pedestrians from entering the roadway from behind a vehicle, but the fact that it is not allowed does not mean that nobody will do it. That is why, when going past the bus, you slow down, move away from it as far as the cars parked on the left allow, and keep your foot over the brake.

Legal basis: Art. 19 para. 1, Art. 4, Art. 3 para. 1 and Art. 14 point 1 letter b of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)