Give way to oncoming trafficPoland
Traffic rules
Poland
29. Give way to oncoming traffic
Give way to oncoming traffic means that drivers must allow vehicles approaching from the opposite direction to pass first through a narrow section of road. The rule is normally indicated by a sign facing the direction that must yield and a corresponding priority sign facing oncoming traffic.
Drivers must reduce speed and stop when necessary before entering the narrow passage. They may continue only when they can do so safely and without obstructing oncoming traffic that has priority.
Wikimedia.org • Aktron • CC BY
When must I give way to oncoming traffic in Poland?
Where priority signs, temporary signals or an authorised controller in Poland require your direction to yield at a narrow road or bridge, allow opposing traffic through first. Do not assume every narrowing has the same priority arrangement.
🔗 eli.gov.pl • Poland, Road Traffic Law — articles 3, 19, 23; Signs 25 and 46
Road narrowing, give way to oncoming drivers.
English • Traffic sign B-31 • Priority for oncoming traffic. Sign B-31 prohibits entering or walking onto a narrow section if doing so would force drivers already on it or approaching from the opposite direction to stop.
Polski • B-31 • pierwszeństwo dla nadjeżdżających z przeciwka. Znak B-31 „pierwszeństwo dla nadjeżdżających z przeciwka” zabrania kierującym wjazdu lub wejścia na zwężony odcinek jezdni, jeżeli zmusiłoby to kierujących znajdujących się na tym odcinku lub zbliżających się do niego z przeciwnej strony do zatrzymania się.
Sources
🔗 Commons.wikimedia.org
🔗 Eli.gov.pl • § 25 ust.
SVG source: Commons.wikimedia.org • Original SVG
Szczepan dyskusja Mail 18:29, 31 December 2006 (UTC) • Public domain • Original revision 2025-09-28. Wikimedia original unmodified.
Artwork reviewed against the Polish official sign catalogue, Dz.U. 2019 poz. 2310: Eli.gov.pl • B-31, PDF page 42, with amendments 2021/433, 2021/2065, 2022/2372 and 2026/133 checked. Catalogue-equivalent illustration; intentional update from the previous PNG. This is an educational illustration, not a manufacturing specification.
Does a road-narrows warning automatically give oncoming traffic priority in Poland?
Not necessarily. A warning of a narrow carriageway is not itself the same as an instruction to give way. Check whether there is a separate priority sign, signal or temporary traffic control, and take account of any rules for an obstruction on your side.
🔗 eli.gov.pl • Poland, Road Traffic Law — articles 3, 19, 23; Signs 25 and 46
What if an oncoming vehicle is already entering a narrow passage in Poland?
Reduce speed and wait where you can do so safely rather than forcing two vehicles into insufficient space. Even if a sign gives your approach priority, that does not justify a collision or endangering another road user.
🔗 eli.gov.pl • Poland, Road Traffic Law — articles 3, 19, 23; Signs 25 and 46
