We have written repeatedly about the Emergency Corridor – Think campaign, initiated, among others, by firefighters from Czerna. The initiative was also often covered by the largest nationwide media outlets.
The impetus for the firefighters from Czerna (Nowogrodziec municipality) to act was an incident in 2016, when none of the drivers even attempted to create an emergency corridor and enable the uniformed officers to reach the accident site. They had to get out of their vehicles and persuade the drivers to pull over.
On Friday, November 22, Warsaw hosted the anniversary gala of the Road Traffic Safety Partner competition. In this year’s edition, in the public institution category, the firefighters from Czerna were honored. For the “Emergency Corridor – Think” campaign, OSP Czerna president Marcin Kamiński and chief officer Tomasz Majowski accepted the distinction from Deputy Infrastructure Minister Rafał Weber. The ministry representative emphasized that it was thanks to the initiative of the firefighters from Nowogrodziec municipality that the regulations were changed.
Marcin Kamiński points out that the firefighters did not initiate the campaign for publicity, but so that something would change on Polish roads.
The president of OSP Czerna hopes that creating emergency corridors will quickly become second nature to Polish drivers.
What is an emergency corridor?
The obligation to create an emergency corridor applies to drivers traveling on roads with at least two lanes in one direction. When an emergency corridor needs to be created, vehicle drivers should enable emergency-service vehicles to pass freely by positioning themselves appropriately.
Under the adopted rule, drivers traveling in the left lane must move toward the left edge of the lane, while the others must move toward the right edge. Efficiently creating an emergency corridor will be particularly important on multilane roads, because every second matters to emergency services. The sooner drivers make room for them, the greater the chance of saving a life.
It is extremely important that the location of the emergency corridor has been specified: when there are several lanes, it will always be on the left side, that is, between the left lane and the lane next to it. Thus, drivers will not have to wonder from which side an emergency vehicle will approach.
The new regulations also prohibit vehicles other than emergency vehicles from using a created emergency corridor. The exception is vehicles belonging to road authorities or roadside assistance services that are taking part in a rescue operation.
What about zipper merging?
The regulations on “zipper merging” specify how drivers should behave when a traffic jam occurs, while a lane is simultaneously ending or an obstacle is present on it.
Under the new regulations (Article 22, sections 4a and 4b of the Road Traffic Act), when speed is significantly reduced on a road with several lanes traveling in the same direction, and it is impossible to continue in a lane because of an obstacle in that lane or because the lane is ending, the driver traveling in that lane will no longer, as before, be required to yield to a vehicle traveling in the lane with continuing passage into which they intend to move.
Article 22, section 4a of the Act states that in such an exceptional road situation, the driver traveling in the adjacent lane with continuing passage is required, immediately before the obstacle or the point where the lane ends, to allow one vehicle or one vehicle combination located in that lane to change into the adjacent lane where continuing travel is possible.
The provision cited above should be read in accordance with the legislator’s intention, which was primarily to ensure greater traffic flow across the entire carriageway. Thus, it should be recognized that a driver in a lane where travel cannot continue for various reasons, such as the lane ending or an obstacle, is in a privileged position and should be “let in” by the driver traveling in the adjacent lane where continuing travel is possible. At the same time, it should be noted that two conditions must exist simultaneously for the new rule to apply (Article 22, sections 4a and 4b of the Road Traffic Act):
- first, there must be a significant reduction in speed, which will usually mean a traffic-jam slowdown in which vehicles are stationary or moving at low speed. A traffic jam may be caused by heavy traffic, as well as by a collision, vehicle breakdown, or similar event. (It is worth emphasizing that the “zipper merging” rule does not apply when the speed of vehicles is significantly reduced relative to the speed limit but the reduced speed remains higher than in a traffic jam—for example, when traffic slows from 90 km/h to 40 km/h. Importantly, the “zipper merging” rule also does not apply when approaching the end of an acceleration lane, for example on a motorway, if there is no traffic jam.)
- second, the merging point must be clearly defined as the location—the final section of the lane—immediately before the obstacle or the point where the lane ends. The aim is to prevent several drivers from attempting to change lanes simultaneously at several locations, which clearly does not promote smooth traffic flow.
National Police Headquarters:
The legislator’s new regulation—provided the above conditions are met—effectively “guarantees” that a driver in a lane that is ending does not have to look for an opportunity to change lanes earlier, because when reaching the very end, they will be smoothly let into the adjacent lane. Applying the alternating rule will ensure that drivers from two or three lanes can continue traveling evenly.
It should be clearly emphasized that the provision is not a recommendation, but directly regulates the obligations of vehicle drivers.
The uniformed services add:
Despite the new regulations, it must not be forgotten that a driver changing lanes in such a situation has not been released from the obligation to exercise particular caution (Article 22, section 1 of the Act). Therefore, taking different circumstances into account, the lane change should be carried out while observing safety requirements.
When did the new regulations take effect?
The new regulations took effect on December 6.
We have repeatedly reported that, despite media coverage of the campaign, there are still many “road sheep” who, through arrogance, recklessness, and often sheer stupidity, hindered the work of services saving the lives of accident victims.
Will the new regulations change this? Join the discussion.