How to drive on the highway?

Driving on a highway or expressway is nothing easier, right? However, it is worth remembering about certain rules, especially if we do not deal with expressways on a daily basis, and we travel in a camper or a car with an attached trailer.

It may be difficult to enter the motorway itself. On the so-called the acceleration lane should be accelerated to reach the speed at which we will easily enter the traffic.

Some drivers, however, move so slowly that they have to stop at the end of the lane and wait for cars in the left-hand lane to pass. Therefore, if you are entering a motorway or an expressway behind another vehicle, be prepared to brake. Otherwise, you may run into the back of a slower car.

The problem may also arise behind toll gates. Some drivers, after paying the toll, start dynamically, while others continue to drive at a slower pace for several hundred meters - it's good to be prepared for it.

Left lane for special occasions

When driving on the highway, you should use the right-hand lane whenever possible. The left lane is intended for overtaking.

But don't go from one extreme to the other. Maneuvers on motorways and expressways should be performed gently and in good time. So if you want to overtake a car, do not drive up to the bumper itself, but enter the left lane before that.

If you can see that you can easily pass a whole column of vehicles, do not go right after each successive one. Return to the right lane only after passing the entire column and moving to a safe distance from the vehicle that was at the head of the "peloton".

The right lane exception can also be applied when a new vehicle appears on the right-hand run-up lane. By going to the left lane, you will make it easier for him to get into traffic (and avoid a situation in which a slower car will get in your way).

Look in the mirrors

The important thing is also being overtaken. On the highway, cars and motorbikes move fast, so they can appear behind you in no time. Be prepared for it.

Especially when you are about to overtake, carefully check in the mirror that there is no other vehicle right behind you that you could have cut over the road due to carelessness.

Keep your distance

Safety considerations also require that you keep your distance from the car in front of you.

In France, regulations stipulate that when driving at a speed of 100 km / h, you must keep a minimum of 62 meters from the other vehicle. This is all it takes for the driver in the rear to react and brake their car in the event of a sudden stop. In Poland, similar regulations do not apply, but the rules of physics - yes. The larger the vehicle, the longer the braking distance, so when driving in a motorhome or a set with a trailer, it is worth extending this distance even more.

Before you go down ...

It is an obvious matter, and yet there are still drivers who forget about it - if you skip the highway or "expressway" exit, you cannot turn back. You have to drive to the next exit, even if it requires driving a dozen or so kilometers.

When you reach the end of a motorway or expressway section, you have to slow down, sometimes up to 50 km / h. This means that you need to lose considerable speed very quickly. If you don't, you could run into the safety barriers that often occur at the end of the road narrowing.

Highway speed

Finally, a reminder. If you are driving a car with a maximum permissible weight of 3.5 tons, the maximum speed on the motorway in Poland is 140 km / h. On the expressway (two-lane) you can go 120 km / h.

However, if you are driving with a caravan (or a motorhome with a GVM of more than 3.5 tonnes or less than 3.5 tonnes but registered as a special vehicle ), you should comply with the speed limit of 80 km / h both on the motorway and on the expressway.