What distance should you keep from the preceding vehicle on the road once you go past this sign and if you drive a bus whose length is over 7 m?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
A. A distance allowing the vehicles overtaking to safely go in front of the bus.
Explanation
In the photo you can see a two-way road with one lane in each direction, and on the right a sign for the end of a built-up area. When driving a bus longer than 7 m, you keep a distance that allows overtaking vehicles to pull in safely in front of the bus - answer A.
The Road Traffic Act states that outside a built-up area, on two-way roadways with two lanes, the driver of a vehicle subject to an individual speed limit or of a vehicle longer than 7 m must keep such a distance from the vehicle in front that overtaking vehicles can safely pull into the gap. Your bus is over 7 m long, so this obligation applies to you. On such a road passenger cars travel faster and often overtake, and if two long vehicles drove bumper to bumper, an overtaking driver would have to pass both at once. The values 50 m (answer B) and 80 m (answer C) are the distances in long tunnels. The obligation does not apply at the moment when you yourself are overtaking, or on a section where overtaking is prohibited.
Legal basis: Art. 19 para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)