Can you keep a right hand drive car in Poland?

I have a similar problem in that I (a UK national) wish to ride my friend's Polish registered bike (a CZ 175 Trail) back from Poland to the UK for her so she can ride it when she comes over next year. Any ideas how I can get insurance in Poland or the UK to do this?

hwel fawr
Dafyddcoch

Not sure about bikes, but if its the same deal as a car then the insurance she has got in Poland should cover her to come to the UK on it, although not sure if you will be covered, guess it depends on her insurance. If not, then you suppose you will have to register to ride it in Poland. Once here, it should be able to stay here in the UKor 6 months before you have to register it here.

Hi,

This is a reply that I received from the EC enquiry desk

EU rules on the issue of vehicles registration provide a very general guidance only. You will find info on those rules on Your Europe website:

. As there are no pan-European detailed rules concerning car registration, each EU country operates its own individual provisions. In your case, to register a British car in Poland, you will be subjected to Polish rules on car registration.

Indeed in the light of Polish law (Road Traffic act and law on technical specifications of vehicles) local registration authorities are prohibited from registering a right hand driven vehicle in Poland. The law cannot however be condemned per se, as it allows for an exception – namely an owner of right hand driven vehicle may apply to the Ministry of Transport for a special permit to have a right hand driven vehicle registered in Poland.

I do appreciate that the system of applying for additional permits may be difficult and burdensome for individual citizens (thus suggesting the system if a barrier to absolute enjoyment of free movement rights by EU citizens). On the other hand however, one must also appreciate a potential defence used by Polish authorities – that the system is introduced with the aim of ensuring and enhancing road safety. Until details of how the system of obtaining additional permits is working on the ground are known, we may not authoritatively confirm if Polish law allowing for difference in treatment of right and left hand driven vehicles is justifiable.

I would advise that you contact the Polish Ministry of Transport direct to find out how you may apply for the special permit to have a right hand driven vehicle registered in Poland. The telephone number to the appropriate department within the Ministry (department of technical specifications) is: 022 630 12 52. Full contact details of the Ministry may be found on:

If following that encounter you will remain convinced that the Polish system is incompatible with EU law, you may prepare an official complaint to the European Commission and/or the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament.

fantastic info - very interesting! Nice one.

Thats quite a ride mate....i rode from UK to Poland on my Harley , so if there is any help or advice i can give i will try to help... My bike was insured in UK and it covered me to ride to Poland...not sure about doing it in the other direction , but i guess it should be easy enough to get it insured in Polska for a trip to the UK....

if you want to keep your british car in Poland for good you need to convert it to left hand drive and get it registered otherwise nobody will give you mot certificate.

I do it all the time with british cars..

please where can get lefthand drives in the uk.

Go to a place where they have auctions of ex military vehicles , alongside the tanks and trucks you will find lots of cars used by British army in places like Germany and other British bases...these of course will be left hand drive....

whats the laws regarding selling a uk RHD (sorn) vehicle in poland for scrap? you know - paperwork, etc.

cheers

I suspect there won,t be much paperwork....just give em the car and collect your dosh....I could be wrong , but as long as the car is yours i can,t see a problem...no doubt somebody will tell us if i am wrong.....?

Jul 8, 09, 21:34 - Thread attached on merging:
right hand drive UK cars in Poland.

anyone know how hard or expensive it is to insure and get an MOT for a right hand drive car in Poland?

have a read through this thread - consensus seems to be that you can't.

Has anybody had their right hand drive changed to a left. Currently driving around poland with my right hand drive and its really dangerous to be driving a right hand drive here i have so many near misses especally with over taking. Just want to hear from anyone that has converted over does it make the car less safe to drive and whats the story with the airbags? Thanks

The cost varies wildly from car to car. Done properly it won't affect the safety of the car. However, it's almost always cheapest and easiest to sell your RHD car in the UK and then buy one in Germany to take to Poland.

It depends what sort of car it is, a lot of manufacturers make one shell for both RHD and LHD markets making the change easy and viable, When I looked at my old e36 m3 the shell looked unconvertable due to the bulkhead being of a soley lhd configuration and changing the bulkhead wouldn't be viable. As for airbags generally the passenger side wont fit due to it being a specific shape for the dash but steering wheel one should be fine, As for the safety aspect as with everything if done correctly then there should be no problem,

As a cheaper quick fix have you thought about mounting a small forward facing camera in your left hand side wing mirror with a live feed to a small screen ie one of those flip out lcd headunits or something? This would make overtaking safer and also allow you to keep the ergonomically superior RHD configuration. Would cost less than £150 to do to if your handy with a drill some wires and have a bit of patience.

Also you may need to extend some of the wiring harnes as some lhd and rhd drive cars have the fusesbox steering wheel side and therefore the loom will not be long enough.To be honest I tinker with cars and if it was a project car I would do a conversion but for a daily driver I dont think it is worth it.

Here is a pic of a dash harness I removed from a VW mk2 Golf G60,this does not have the luxury of airbags and fancy gadgets so quite a basic loom

Average quotes for conversions Ive had here are between 8-10,000 zls.

What is the obsession with converting the wheel to the other side? Keep the car on UK plates, insure it in the UK and take it to England once a year for an MOT, Driving a RHD car here is fine, overtaking isn't an issue once you get used to it and you don't get any fines from the police or speed cameras as they can't understand the uk documents.

Also for the money you spend on a LHD fiesta you can drive a RHD m3 with nearly 300 bhp so even though you're sat on the wrong side overtaking will still be easier and more fun.

Changing gear with your right hand sucks,

You get used to it eventually. Unlike reversing with your left hand, even after seven years that still really sucks.

I tried driving a LHD car a few times and simply hate it as it just doesn't feel right, As for reversing with your left hand it seems a far to big a job for a hand which you can't use for jobs which require accuracy,

RHD is much better from an ergonomics point of view and and also a safety point of view.

Poles are taught to keep both hands on the steering wheel and reverse using only the mirrors!

I used to hate that when driving my parents motorhome,

That explains why the majority can't park properly in bays...

That seems like a lot of hassle to me unless you drive to the UK once a year anyway. To do that just for the MOT seems a bit pointless given the time and cost in fuel to do that round-trip.

I agree that a conversion seems pointless too.

I don't understand why people don't just sell their RHDs in the UK and buy an LHD in Poland (or Germany etc..) and save the 140 odd quid on road tax, and a couple of hundred quid on insurance.


Well the ergonomics depends on the car - some cars (e.g. Ferrarri) are designed as LHD and so the RHD versions aren't as comfortable. Some cars as designed as RHD (I believe Toyota amongst others) so you are probably right.


I don't see how it can be safe to overtake in an RHD vehicle in Europe. You either have restricted visibility or have you to set up extra mirrors or a camera etc..

Its not safer but its no worse, you just have to position the car correctly in order to see past and make sure in the right gear to get the most out of the engine (or in my car get ready to floor it and hope it kicks down).

It can be done safely,

Or at least safely compared to the suicidal maniacs who fill the Polish roads.

It also helps if you've got a car with reasonable performance, or a "tall" car that lets you see over other vehicles (not great for lorries though).

exactly, less than 100 bhp per tonne and you will be dead in the water,