When assuming a safe distance from parked vehicles, should you take into account the possibility of one of the vehicles' doors opening?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
YES
Explanation
In the video you are driving along a residential street with parked cars on both sides, and a motorcyclist is approaching from the opposite direction. When deciding on a safe distance from parked vehicles, you should take into account that a door may suddenly open in one of them. The answer is: yes.
The Road Traffic Act requires a driver, when going around a stationary vehicle, road user or obstacle, to keep a safe distance from it and, if necessary, to reduce speed; the principle of limited trust also applies, under which you may assume that others obey the rules unless the circumstances suggest that they may behave differently. The door of a passenger car opened wide sticks out about a metre into the roadway, and a driver or passenger who has just parked often opens it without looking in the mirror. That is why you pass a row of parked cars at a distance of at least the width of a door, look to see whether someone is sitting inside and whether the brake lights or reversing lights are on, and remember that for a motorcyclist coming from the opposite direction between the parked cars an open door is even more dangerous than for you.
Legal basis: Art. 23 para. 1 point 2 and Art. 4 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)