From Which Side Should a Motor Vehicle Overtake?
4 Answers
Motor vehicles should overtake from the left side. Overtaking from the left provides better visibility, as it only requires a slight deviation to the left to observe the road conditions ahead. Due to differences in driving methods, overtaking from the right can obstruct visibility, making it difficult to ensure driving safety during the maneuver. Techniques for overtaking: accelerate and merge into the adjacent lane, then accelerate straight ahead to pass the vehicle being overtaken until a safe distance is achieved before merging back into the original lane. The purpose of overtaking is to achieve faster passage. Overtaking should be completed safely and swiftly, so both accelerating and merging actions need to be executed cleanly and efficiently, all while ensuring safety conditions are met.
As a veteran driver with ten years of experience, I always overtake from the left. Traffic regulations clearly state: when driving in adjacent lanes in the same direction, the rear vehicle must overtake the front vehicle from the left. Overtaking from the right is not only illegal and subject to fines and penalty points, but more critically, the blind spot in the driver's right rear-view mirror is large. If the front vehicle suddenly changes lanes to avoid a pothole, overtaking from the right leaves little time to react. I’m always extra cautious when overtaking large trucks—I signal left for at least three seconds and only change lanes once I can see the entire front of the truck in the rear-view mirror. After overtaking, I maintain a safe distance of at least 100 meters before returning to the original lane. Those reckless drivers weaving in and out of the emergency lane are bound to crash sooner or later.
During the driving test, the instructor taught us with bloody examples: Chinese vehicles are all left-hand drive designs, and the best driving visibility for overtaking is on the left side. When overtaking on the right, most of your car is in the blind spot of the vehicle ahead. If the driver ahead slightly turns right, it could lead to a collision. Last year, my colleague was driving on the highway at night and encountered a pothole while overtaking a semi-trailer truck on the right. The truck instinctively turned right to avoid it, pushing his car straight into the guardrail. Remember these three danger zones where you must never overtake on the right: curves, hilltops, and tunnel entrances—these are all must-know questions in the written test, where life and death hang in the balance.
After twenty years of car repairs, I've found that many accidents stem from drivers not understanding the mechanics of overtaking. When overtaking from the left at an angle of about 15 degrees with the car in front, the rearview mirror can fully capture the dynamics behind. However, when overtaking from the right at an angle exceeding 30 degrees, the rearview mirror develops a large blind spot, making it necessary to turn your head to observe safely—but turning your head at high speeds is extremely dangerous. It is recommended to observe the direction of the front car's wheels before overtaking; if the wheels are leaning to the right, it may indicate the driver is preparing to pull over, in which case overtaking from the right is absolutely inadvisable. Overtaking in rainy conditions is even more dangerous, as lateral airflow can cause the vehicle to drift.
