In city traffic, drivers often encounter moving and stopping trams.
These are their rights and obligations.
Even if you mainly travel by car in the city and only use local public transport very little, you will notice that trams have been making a slow but steady comeback for years.
Trams are replacing or supplementing bus routes, and some closed routes are being reactivated.
Overtaking the tram: Then it is also allowed on the left
Encounters with the ringing city trains are becoming more and more frequent - at intersections, but also on the same lane as cars if they don't have their own lanes.
Trams are allowed to drive as fast as other motorized road users, i.e. usually 50 km/h in cities (even if many cities would like to slow down traffic to 30 km/h).
However, they often travel more slowly or stop to let passengers board and disembark.
Which leads to the question of whether and how you can overtake trams.
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Not always easy: overtaking a tram.
(icon picture)
© Pius Koller/Imago
Overtaking the tram: At the bus stop only at walking pace
The following rules apply at the bus stop:
Only overtake at walking speed.
Keep sufficient lateral distance.
If it is not possible to overtake safely without impeding or endangering the passengers, you have to wait.
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These rules apply while driving:
As a rule, trams have to be overtaken on the right, in contrast to what is usual for cars.
If the rails are so far to the right on the roadway that overtaking is not possible on this side, you can also drive past the rail vehicle on the left.
Trams can also be overtaken on the left in one-way streets.
List of rubrics: © Pius Koller/Imago
