Speed Limits and Safe Following Distance
Limits in Belarus
In built-up areas the general limit is 60 km/h. Outside built-up areas the general limit for cars is 90 km/h; on motorways it is 110 km/h where signed. Towing a trailer lowers the limit (typically to 70 km/h outside built-up areas). Trucks, buses and vehicles carrying passengers have their own limits. Local signs may raise or lower these, and a lower limit applies in specific places: near pedestrian crossings, at sharp bends, on ice, in tunnels.
Choosing a safe speed
Speed must allow you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear. In poor visibility, rain, snow or fog, reduce speed. Near schools, crossings, and where children or animals may appear, reduce further.
Following distance
There is no single legal metre figure; the rule is that you must be able to stop if the vehicle ahead brakes suddenly. A practical guide is the two-second rule in good conditions, doubled in rain and tripled on ice or snow. Keep a larger gap behind motorcycles, trucks and vehicles with obscured brake lights.
Traps
Questions ask for the limit outside a built-up area (90) versus on a motorway (110) versus in a settlement (60). Another trap: a lower sign limit overrides the general one; a higher sign limit does not override a lower restriction near a hazard. Also, the two-second rule is a minimum, not a target.
Rule of thumb
"If you cannot stop in the distance you can see, you are going too fast." Pick a fixed roadside object; if you reach it before counting two seconds after the car ahead, you are too close.