If you merge with traffic, should you give the right of way to a pedestrian who is not on a pedestrian crossing?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
YES
Explanation
In the video you are driving slowly along the pavement next to an estate street, a woman is walking along the pavement ahead of you, and you intend to move onto the roadway. When joining traffic (włączanie się do ruchu), you must give way to a pedestrian, even if they are not on a pedestrian crossing. The answer is: yes.
The Road Traffic Act states that a driver joining traffic exercises particular caution and gives way to another vehicle or road user - and a pedestrian is a road user. The rule does not limit this obligation to pedestrian crossings: the pavement belongs to pedestrians, and you are the guest there. You wait until the woman has passed, and you move off only when nobody is walking behind or in front of your car, because a person walking along the pavement does not expect a car to move off.
Legal basis: Art. 17 para. 1 point 3 and para. 2 and Art. 2 point 17 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)