What distance should you maintain when overtaking a cyclist or a moped?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
A. No less than 1 metre.
Explanation
In the photo you are driving along a narrow road through a village, and a cyclist is riding in front of you on the right side of the roadway. When overtaking a bicycle or a moped, you must keep a distance of not less than 1 metre - answer A. Half a metre (B) is too little, and "any, but safe" (C) applied until the amendment of 2011 - today the Road Traffic Act gives a specific minimum.
The Act requires a driver who is overtaking to exercise particular caution, especially to keep a safe distance from the vehicle or road user being overtaken, and states that when overtaking a bicycle, a cycle cart, a moped, a motorcycle, an electric scooter, a column of pedestrians and several other road users listed in it, this distance must not be less than 1 m. A metre is only the lower limit - a cyclist may wobble or suddenly turn left when going around a pothole, and the rush of air from a car that passes him fast and close can knock him over. On such a narrow road you overtake him by moving onto the left side of the roadway when nothing is coming from the opposite direction; if you cannot leave a metre, you slow down and drive behind him until there is room.
Legal basis: Art. 24 para. 2 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)