Which roads in urban areas prohibit overtaking?
3 Answers
Driving a motor vehicle through high-traffic urban road sections prohibits overtaking, such as when the vehicle ahead is making a left turn, performing a U-turn, overtaking, encountering oncoming traffic, or when the preceding vehicle is a police car, fire truck, ambulance, or engineering rescue vehicle performing emergency duties. Additionally, overtaking is prohibited when passing through railway crossings, intersections, narrow bridges, curves, steep slopes, tunnels, pedestrian crossings, etc. Basic principles of overtaking: Carefully observe, make correct and decisive decisions, downshift and accelerate in advance when overtaking. If unexpected situations arise, remain calm, quickly decelerate, halt the overtaking maneuver, and be cautious when passing parked vehicles. When passing stationary vehicles, utilize engine braking resistance to decelerate, honk the horn frequently, observe carefully, increase the lateral distance from the parked vehicle, and prepare for emergency stops. When overtaking a convoy of vehicles, accelerate continuously to complete the maneuver only when visibility for overtaking is optimal. Precautions for overtaking: Before overtaking, always observe the condition of the lane you intend to use and the driving situation of the vehicles ahead of the car you plan to overtake. To enhance throttle response and increase torque for rapid acceleration, automatic transmission vehicles should swiftly press the accelerator pedal to the floor, while manual transmission vehicles should downshift first before quickly depressing the accelerator to accelerate. Avoid consecutive lane changes during overtaking; after completing a lane change, accelerate in a straight line, observe the rear to confirm safety, and then return to the original lane.
There are several situations in the city where I absolutely refuse to overtake: solid yellow line sections are a definite no—crossing the line means immediate fines and penalty points; narrow roads with two-way single lanes are also dangerous, as oncoming traffic can appear at any moment; near intersections is even worse—overtaking within 30 meters of an intersection is a violation; under bridges or in tunnels, the lighting flickers, making it impossible to see the road ahead clearly; near schools or hospital entrances, with pedestrians and e-bikes darting around, overtaking is like gambling with your life. Last week, I saw a car overtaking near a hospital entrance nearly hit a wheelchair—it scared me so much I gripped the steering wheel until my palms were sweaty.
Our driving school instructors repeatedly emphasize several no-overtaking zones: absolutely follow the rules in sections with no-overtaking signs; you must slow down at crosswalks; don't take risks on continuous winding mountain roads with limited visibility; weaving through queued vehicles ahead is the most annoying; rushing lanes at traffic light starts is most likely to cause rear-end collisions. Remember, accelerating while changing lanes is fine, but don't force overtaking where safety can't be guaranteed. After all, scratched paint can be fixed, but there's no cure for regret if someone gets hurt.
