Many countries consider overtaking to be dangerous indoors and therefore qualify it as a traffic offence, but most countries distinguish between unintentional activities (passing vehicles on the intermediate side in heavy traffic) and the deliberate attempt to overtake a slower vehicle for one`s own benefit. On a single/undivided carriageway, the lane used for overtaking is often the same as that used by oncoming traffic. A passing vehicle must be able to see clearly in front of it throughout the overtaking manoeuvre, plus an error rate. For example, in New Zealand, the Highway Code states that a driver passing must be able to see at least 100 metres of clear road ahead of him when he completes the passing manoeuvre. [1] In the UK, overtaking and overtaking guidelines are included in Rules 162-169[2] of the Highway Code. In the Republic of Ireland, many major national roads were transformed in the 1990s and 2000s into wide, two-lane roads (two-lane roads with three lanes, in addition to hard shoulders) in order to create more space for overtaking (a very common maneuver in a country that was not very two-lane until the early 2000s). However, due to the misleading perception of safety by these roads, future modernisation projects are likely to be 2+1 routes where traffic adapts (a successful pilot installation has been deployed on the N20 near Mallow, County Cork). This type of road has a similar profile to a wide two-lane road, but contains a central guardrail and has three lanes, with one passing lane on one side or the other, alternating every 2 km. It has been used in Denmark and Sweden since the 1990s. Overtaking in a HOV or HOT lane is generally illegal for cars that do not meet the HOV/HOT criteria, unless otherwise advised by the police.
In some jurisdictions, the „timber area“ is indicated by a single broken median line (yellow or white in most countries) when overtaking is permitted in both directions, or paired with a single solid line next to it to indicate that there is no overtaking on the solid side. In the United Kingdom[3] and New Zealand, the centre line format is not used to regulate overtaking, but only to indicate whether crossing the line is prohibited or permitted. In Australia[4], riders can cross a solid centre line to overtake a cyclist. Overtaking indoors or in company[17][18][19] refers to the practice of passing a slower vehicle on a road in the lane that is the sidewalk side of the vehicle to be passed; That is, one lane to the left of the vehicle in countries where driving is on the left, or one lane to the right of the vehicle in countries where driving is on the right. The practice of in-house overtaking therefore usually only occurs on a motorway or other road if there is more than one lane in the same direction or if the width of the roads allows it (although there may be exceptions in the case of counter-current bus lanes). One of the innovations on regional distribution roads (GOW) was a wide double central line[11], often without interruption, to create more lateral space between two opposing traffic directions and to prevent overtaking manoeuvres. [12] The designers of the wide dual axis wanted to create space for human error so that vehicles that deviate to the middle of the road no longer immediately lead to fatal accidents. The idea behind the solid center line was the idea that passing cars had to drive in lanes with oncoming traffic, which was considered dangerous even on perfectly flat and straight roads with good visibility. Supporters of the „Duurzaam Veilig“ project point out that it has been possible to create more safety, as the number of fatal accidents has decreased significantly with the introduction of the „Duurzaam Veilig“ road planning in the Netherlands. [13] The overtaking ban is very similar in most European countries, but its legal description differs from country to country.
According to the text of the law, the overtaking ban in some European countries prohibits overtaking only for vehicles with three or more wheels, giving motorcyclists the freedom to overtake cars beyond the overtaking prohibition sign, with the same signal excluding overtaking for all types of vehicles in neighboring countries. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, overtaking vehicles with only 2 wheels is not prohibited despite the overtaking ban. The legal text „Overtaking vehicles on more than two wheels“ allows the overtaking of bicycles, of which there are many on Dutch roads. On a two-lane motorway, motorway or two-lane artery, any lane can be an expressway, although in many places (including Germany) a company (passing on the furthest side of the centre line) is prohibited.