Overtaking near a junction is dangerous because it hides you from others, reduces everyone’s time to react, and massively increases the chance of a side‑impact or head‑on crash.

Quick Scoop

Core reasons it’s so risky

  • Hidden from emerging traffic: A driver pulling out of the side road may only see the slower vehicle you are overtaking, not your faster car coming past it, so they pull out into your path.
  • Confusing, unpredictable movements: At junctions, vehicles may slow, turn, change lanes, or stop suddenly; adding an overtaking manoeuvre makes it much harder to predict and avoid conflicts.
  • Reduced visibility: When you pull out to overtake, your view of oncoming traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians is often blocked by the vehicle you’re passing and by roadside buildings, trees, or parked cars near the junction.
  • Less time and space to escape: Junctions compress everything—brakes, turns, lane changes, pedestrians—and if something unexpected happens, you have very little room to brake or steer out of trouble while alongside another vehicle.
  • Higher impact angles: Crashes at junctions often involve side impacts where protective structures are weaker, so injuries can be more severe than in low‑speed rear‑end shunts.

What the rules say

  • Driving codes and theory‑test guidance explicitly say you should not overtake when approaching or at a junction because you may “come into conflict” with turning or emerging vehicles.
  • In many places, overtaking near junctions can be classed as careless or dangerous driving, affecting fault in insurance claims and potentially leading to fines or points.

A simple mental picture

Imagine you’re behind a slow car on a main road, approaching a T‑junction.
You pull out to overtake just as a car at the side road looks right, sees only the slow car, and decides it’s clear.
As you draw level, they pull out.
They never realised there were actually two vehicles to consider—yours was hidden until it was too late.

That’s why the safest habit is: if you can see a junction ahead—or even suspect one is hidden by trees, buildings, or a bend—wait, pass the junction first, then overtake only when the road is long, straight, and fully clear.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.