Overtaking: No exception to the speed limit

Created: 2022-08-02 06:07

By: Simon Mones

If you want to overtake another car, you have to stick to the speed limit.

Endangering other road users must also be ruled out.

If you want to overtake another car, you have to pay attention to a few things, after all it is one of the most dangerous driving maneuvers on the road.

Serious accidents are not uncommon, especially on rural roads, because the situation is misjudged.

The Road Traffic Act (StVO) clearly regulates when overtaking is allowed, namely only if you are driving significantly faster than the car in front of you.

So has the speed limit been lifted when overtaking?

The answer is obvious: Of course, an overtaking maneuver does not remove the speed limit.

Drivers who have been flashed cannot avoid the fine notice by overtaking.

Unlike overtaking in the right lane, there are no exceptions here.

A speed limit must also be observed when overtaking.

© Roland Zihlmann/Imago

Overtaking: No exception to the speed limit

However, the person overtaken must also play along: he must not accelerate during the overtaking manoeuvre.

Should he nevertheless do so, the procedure will be lengthened and the risk of an accident will increase significantly.

However, this can be reduced from the outset by driving with foresight.

When overtaking a slower vehicle, it should always be considered that the maneuver requires a certain distance.

With correctly maintained safety distances and a speed of 100 km/h, it takes about 500 to 600 meters to overtake a vehicle traveling at 80 km/h.

Overtaking: Other road users must not be endangered

In order to be able to drive past safely, you should not only be able to see this distance, but more than double the distance.

It is therefore safest to overtake on a long stretch of country road that is as straight as possible, where oncoming traffic is clearly visible.

The time should also be taken into account: an overtaking maneuver can take up to 20 seconds.

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Of course, the indicator must also be used before you swerve, this also applies when you change back to the actual lane.

The repositioning must take place as soon as possible, but without impeding the overtaken person.

Means: The safety distance must be observed.

During the overtaking process, any hindrance to oncoming traffic, the one to be overtaken and the following traffic should also be excluded.

For example, overtaking may be prohibited even without signs.

Incidentally, bicycles may not always simply be overtaken.