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Overtaking or passing is the act of one vehicle going past another slower moving vehicle, travelling in the same direction, on a road. The lane used for overtaking another vehicle is often a passing lane farther from the road shoulder, which is to the left in places that drive on the right and to the right in places that drive on the left.
In some jurisdictions, the "overtaking zone" is indicated by a single broken centerline (yellow or white in most countries) if overtaking is allowed in either direction, or paired with a single solid line beside it to indicate there is no overtaking from the solid side. In the UK and New Zealand, the format of the centerline is not used to regulate overtaking, only to indicate whether crossing of the line is prohibited or permitted. In Australia, drivers can cross a solid centerline to overtake a cyclist.
In the Republic of Ireland, many national primary roads were upgraded in the 1990s and 2000s to wide two-lane road (two-lane road with space for three lanes, in addition to ) to allow more space for overtaking (a very common manoeuvre in a country that had little dual carriageway until the early 2000s). However, due to the deceptive perception of safety given by such roads, future upgrade projects are likely to be 2+1 road where traffic volume suits (a successful pilot installation was used on the N20 near Mallow, County Cork). This form of road is of similar profile to wide two-lane, but includes a central crash barrier, and has three lanes, with an overtaking lane on one side or the other, alternating every 2 km. It has been used in Denmark and Sweden since the 1990s.
On a dual carriageway/divided-carriageway highway/motorway or arterial road, any lane can be an overtaking lane though in many places (including Germany) undertaking (overtaking on the side furthest from the road center line) is prohibited. Lanes are normally separated by broken lines (usually white) but may be a single solid white to indicate lane-changing is allowed but discouraged. Double lines indicate that lane-changing (for example to overtake) is prohibited, such as in tunnels or sometimes for and HOT lanes.
Overtaking in an HOV or HOT lane is usually illegal for cars that do not meet the HOV/HOT criteria, except when directed by the police.
A few places also use the one-broken/one-solid marking at /entrance ramps, to indicate to highway drivers that the new lane merges and does not continue, so they do not attempt to overtake in a lane that ends shortly. This is also used at other points where lanes merge.
Many jurisdictions mandate a safe overtaking distance when passing pedestrians, cyclists, persons on Equestrianism, motorcyclists, or those on motorized scooters. For instance, Germany and the United Kingdom both prescribe a horizontal overtaking distance of at least .
One of the new features on regional distributor roads (GOW) was a wide double centre line, Picture of 'Duurzaam Veilig' centre line, with no interruption picture taken by Chris for Wegenwiki, Dutch website about roads, retrieved 15 December 2019 often without interruption, designed to create more lateral space between two opposite directions of traffic and to stop people from overtaking. Rijrichtingscheiding Separation of directions of traffic, article on Wegenwiki, Dutch website about roads, retrieved 15 December 2019 Designers of the wide double centre line wanted to create some room for human error, so that vehicles swerving towards the centre of the road would no longer immediately lead to fatal accidents. The idea behind the solid centre line was the thought that overtaking cars have to move into lanes with oncoming traffic, which was considered unsafe even on perfectly flat and straight stretches of road with proper visibility. People in favour of the 'Duurzaam Veilig'-project point out that it has succeeded in creating more safety, as the number of fatal accidents has gone down quite dramatically as 'Duurzaam Veilig' road design was rolled out across the Netherlands. Ten years of Sustainable Safety in the Netherlands; An assessment published by Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid (SWOV), Foundation for scientific research on traffic safety, retrieved 15 December 2019
Local governments may introduce variations to the Convention.
Many countries consider overtaking on the inside dangerous and therefore designate it a driving offence; however, most countries make the distinction between involuntary undertaking (passing centre side vehicles in heavy traffic) as opposed to the deliberate attempt to pass a slower moving vehicle for one's own benefit.
Nationwide ban on overtaking as road safety measure
The Netherlands has ruled out overtaking on 95% of their single carriageway primary road network. Statistics from before 1990 showed that many fatal accidents in the Netherlands were due to unsafe overtaking actions, where the speed of oncoming traffic was underestimated. During the 1990s a new road design was introduced, called 'Duurzaam Veilig (Verkeer)', or "Sustainable (Road) Safety". Sustainable Safety, English pages of Dutch website about the 'Duurzaam Veilig'-project retrieved 15 December 2019 The philosophy behind the new road design was that the road had to protect its users against death or injury, by creating a design that has to eliminate common mistakes that often lead to accidents. This vision moves the responsibility for road safety away from the road users towards road designers.pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/912871516999678053/Report-Safe-Systems-final.pdf report written by Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF), with support of World Bank and Bloomberg Philanthropy, retrieved 15 December 2019 The 'Duurzaam Veilig'-road design created 3 categories of roads: roads meant for local access, regional distributor roads (called 'gebiedsontsluitingswegen', or GOW) Regional roads (called 'gebiedsontsluitingswegen', or GOW) article on Wegenwiki, Dutch website about roads , retrieved 15 December 2019 and national through roads, each with their own type of lines on the edge of the road, so road users would be able to recognize what type of road they were on and behave accordingly. Distributor road published by Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, retrieved 15 December 2019 By strictly separating slow moving local traffic from faster moving through traffic, the 'Duurzaam Veilig'-project aimed at making roads safer through their design. Sustainable Safety in the Netherlands: the vision, the implementation and the safety effects, published by Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid (SWOV), Foundation for scientific research on traffic safety'', retrieved 15 December 2019
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
In countries bounded by Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, article 11 states that:
Overtaking on the inside
Overtaking on the inside or undertaking Inside refers to the edge of the road closest to the kerb and outside closest to the centre. Never undertake a Heavy Goods Vehicle refers to the practice of overtaking a slower vehicle on a road using the lane that is curb side of the vehicle being passed; that is to say, a lane to the left of the vehicle in countries where driving is on the left, or a lane to the right of the vehicle in countries where driving is on the right. The practice of passing on the inside, therefore, usually only occurs on a motorway or other road where there is more than one lane in the same direction or when the width of the roads makes this possible (although there may be exceptions in the cases of contraflow lane bus lanes).
Legal status by country
Overtaking road signs
Below are some common examples of traffic signs prohibiting overtaking.
Overtaking in racing
In racing, the rules allow overtaking from either side. Generally, the sides are classified as inside and outside overtaking, depending on the position of the overtaking car at the next curve since start of overtaking. The defending car usually blocks inside overtaking, because outside overtaking is riskier than inside overtaking.
See also
External links
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