Are you obliged to keep a safe distance when passing a stationary vehicle?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
YES
Explanation
In the video you are driving along a street lined with old tenement houses, with parked cars on both sides and a narrow roadway between them. When you drive past the stationary vehicles, you are passing stationary vehicles ("going around" them), and during this manoeuvre you must keep a safe distance. The answer is: yes.
The Road Traffic Act states that when passing a stationary vehicle, the driver is obliged to keep a safe distance from the vehicle, road user or obstacle being passed and, if necessary, to reduce speed. Next to parked cars, a door may open at any moment or a pedestrian may step out from between them. You keep to your half of the roadway, leaving a gap from the parked cars, drive more slowly than usual and look to see whether anyone is sitting in any of the cars.
Legal basis: Art. 23 para. 1 point 2 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)