While parking a broken-down car on a paved road outside a built-up area, do you have to leave the low-beam lights on?

In the photo, a white car with its hazard warning lights on is standing at the right-hand edge of a two-way road through a forest, outside a built-up area; lorries and a passenger car are coming from the opposite direction. When a broken-down vehicle is stationary, you switch on the hazard warning lights, and if the car does not have them - the sidelights; dipped headlights are not required for this and do not replace this signalling. The answer is: no.

On a hard-surfaced road outside a built-up area, the Road Traffic Act requires you to signal that a vehicle is stationary because of a breakdown or accident by placing a warning triangle 30-50 m behind the vehicle and switching on the hazard warning lights, or the sidelights if the vehicle is not equipped with hazard warning lights. Dipped headlights are used while driving; when the vehicle is stationary, hazard warning lights or sidelights are enough, and they put less load on the battery and do not dazzle drivers coming from the opposite direction. If you have stopped on the shoulder and are clearly visible, signalling is not even compulsory.

Legal basis: Art. 50 para. 1 point 2 letter a and para. 2 point 2 letter a of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)