When driving a truck of more than 3,500 kg MAM on a conventional road outside built-up areas with a single lane in each direction, what minimum safety distance must you keep from a bus ahead of you if you do not intend to overtake it?

Question

DentroTest · Accepted Answer

The General Traffic Regulations (Article 54(2)) establish that vehicles with a maximum authorized mass (MAM) above 3,500 kg, and vehicles and combinations of more than 10 meters in total length, must keep a minimum separation of 50 meters from the vehicle ahead when they do not intend to overtake it. That rule does not apply in built-up areas, where overtaking is prohibited, with more than one lane for the same direction, or in congested traffic (Article 54(3)); here it does apply, because it is a conventional road outside built-up areas with only one lane in each direction. The formulas that call for a distance sufficient to brake without colliding, or to brake and also allow safe overtaking, describe the general rule on separation and are incomplete: a truck of more than 3,500 kg must also respect the numerical minimum of 50 meters.

When driving a truck of more than 3,500 kg MAM on a conventional road outside built-up areas with a single lane in each direction, what minimum safety distance must you keep from a bus ahead of you if you do not intend to overtake it?

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