Overtaking a vehicle is the most dangerous maneuver a driver performs in road traffic. It is a situation that, under conditions requiring increased caution and often involving high speeds, combines the need to perform a series of actions at the same time.
During the summer holidays of 2018, incorrect overtaking led to 352 accidents in which 56 people died and 422 were injured. The police said: “It should be noted that, among all the causes of road accidents, this incorrectly performed maneuver carried the greatest likelihood of a fatal accident.”
What must a driver do before beginning to overtake?
- make sure they have adequate visibility and sufficient space to overtake without obstructing anyone’s traffic
- make sure that the driver traveling behind them has not started overtaking
- make sure that the driver traveling ahead of them in the same lane has not signaled an intention to overtake another vehicle, change direction or change lanes.