Observation of Polish drivers, by and English anthropologist.

the rule is this: I am more important than you and what I want to do is more important that the reason there is a rule forbidding what I want to do.

There is certain breed of Pole (and not an uncommon breed either) which seems to relish the flaunting of rules of both courtesy and safety.

I reckon its due to Polish history...

They had the Germans telling them what to do for a number of years , then after this the Russians...

I think Poles have a natural dislike of rules and try to bend or break them as much as possible....

And again:


Frogs everywhere! Everybody panic!

no, not true - there is a refund system - but it does not cover all fuel expenses AFAIK (it is farm size based)


there is a simple solution to your fears - don't drive that fast and don't overtake as much

Aha...i thought they got special red diesal which was cheaper...

when i worked at the farm in cumbria when i still lived there we got red diesel. I have a tractor licence, and i got dipped by the police so many times. Hige fines for having red diesel out on the streets. Funny thing is only 10 miles between the two farms and its all country roads. Dual engines so damn expensive though.

Polish Drivers in UK



Antek_Stalich told me that the speed limit in Poland is going to be increased to 160 KM/h. I say go for it.

The thing that really irritated me on my Sunday's return home from Wrocław to Masovia were the "Sunday drivers". On a 22-km route from Żyrardów in direction to Warsaw, approximately half of drivers were ones returning home. They seemed to be extremely careful about their large, expensive, brand new cars, so they crawled, and they were taking turns to local streets enormously slowly. The rage was growing in me, since it looked like they wanted driving as slow as to reach the traffic lights turning red... I actually exploded when those cars still drove 50-60 km/h after leaving the last town (so the speed limit was 90 km/h there). Sometimes I wonder if really so many people must drive cars...

I have seen a lot of of road accidents, I've never seen anything like this. Polish definitely take the cake. We're no. 1!

This is a direct lie.

The speed limit in Poland has been increased to 140 km/h or 87 mph, on highways.
120 km/h, on expressways.
110 km/h, on 2-lane dual carriageways (so 4-lanes in total).

For the last time, Havok: Please stop lying.

Whatever Antek, i think you guys should stay away from cars in Poland and revert to horse and buggy.



OMFG, please people, give it up. Leave the cars alone Polish! You're gonna kill us all!

You mean, by crossing the Atlantic Ocean and killing you in Texas? I'm missing your point, Havok.

LOL That's a good one! I'm definitely no authority, but I have been to Poland for three visits of three weeks each and drove all around the country. I had heard all this stuff about what terrible drivers there were in Poland, but I never saw one accident.

On my last trip, I drove about 600 km within two weeks.

I must admit on my first trip, the lack of a passing lane and narrow shoulders on the road from Gdańsk to Warsaw made another car overtaking us a bit exciting. However there is a brand new road now from Gdańsk towards Warsaw and I was on it the week it opened in 2008. Very nice and no problems with drivers.

Softsong, the things are however not so optimistic.

First of all, Polish drivers are in general bad drivers. Speeding, overtaking in forbidden places, overtaking as described by OP, driving under influence, forced joining the traffic from subordinate road... Many more vices. Then irresponsible or drunk pedestrians. Then bicycle riders doing whatever they please (and often riding with no lights and/or drunk); bikers believing they are Easy Riders; and so on and so on. There is something such as "Uhlans' fantasy" or irresponsibility that does not fir driving very much. Or "nie na nas Polaków zakazy!" (Nothing is forbidden to us, Poles!).

Unluckily, it is hard not to spot an accident on a longer journey. Excellent weather, straight road and bang! a completely damaged car there in the fields!

Secondly, some principal roads are still really underdeveloped and people want to get to their destination fast. This makes them act even more irresponsibly.

Next, the problem inherited from the Commies. Many roads lead through urban areas. This is disaster; building beltways would require a lot of money. Luckily, there are more and more beltways built.

Since I have to drive, I have to get my destinations in realistic time, and I want to decrease the risk, I choose secondary and ternary roads. This makes me sure I will cover Masovia - Wrocław in 5 hours or better, no irritation, far less risk. The pain is if I should go to Gdańsk (no good secondary/ternary roads in that direction). Before the highways are completed, I simply start earlier and drive slower but securely. No other choice.

Yep. When driving in Poland one must remember that the average Polish driver has precisely the same amount of respect for road traffic laws as he has for the laws of physics: i.e. none at all.

As for three lanes on a two lane road, I know for a fact that on the Warsaw to Gdansk road it is possible to get four cars going side by side in one direction and two more side by side in the other direction at the same time, because I've seen it several times.

I guess it goes back to another comment made earlier about how few cars there were in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Driving is relatively a new thing for many.

I do remember driving to Warsaw in 2000 and thinking how light the traffic was going into the city. I could see a big difference this past summer.

And it is aproximately 24 KM's or so. Very nice road...but it is only the last few KM's before Gdansk....It would be nice if it did go from Warsaw to Gdansk. It is a long drive except for that short stretch.

I was not sure how far it went because on that trip, I did not travel to Warsaw, I only knew that we headed in that direction and did not need to use the old road.

Is further construction planned?


Yes, that is what I was talking about. I covered my eyes a lot. lol

it is underway this year - but I don' t believe it will be finished this year

Thanks Gumishu. Maybe on my next trip to Poland I can try it out. :-)

This. Is. Poland!

Freeeeedom!

Exactly....when driving becomes safe in Poland...it will be the UK.....

for now its Poland , and you just have to accept thats the way it is....

Pfft, that looks like a motorcycle and I've seen people do the same thing here, especially when the traffic is stopped on the Interstate. Motorcycle will weave in and out between the gridlocked cars because they can :)

Part of the fun of having one.... its more dangerous on a bike...we get cold and wet sometimes..but we don,t get stuck in traffic...

Yep!

Of course, it also assumes there is room on either the left or right for a car to pull over. I've had times when Mr Motorman just HAS to overtake in the face of an uncoming russian truck and even if I did move to the side he wouldn't safely get back in without making Ivan-the-man slam his anchors on or swerve.

How about the audi drivers who decide to overtake 4 cars at a time on a blind bend or when you are trying to overtake the car infront of you? Or the ones who just drive down the middle of the country road.


I'm assuming you're British or Irish... It's because we were never conquered by Napoleon. Before him, allegedly, all Europe used to drive on the left. Poland. Funny how so many Poles supported Napoleon but now many of them seem determined to revert to driving on the left again... while there is on-coming.


But have you ever noticed that some Euro models (like MZ) have the kickstart on the left side whereas Japanese (who drive on the left) have theirs on the right?

Yeah, best to pull over when the oncoming is a tank. mind you, if half the audi drivers I meet had been on the road in 1939, the wehrmacht would have all swerved into the ditches and a huge Polish votory would have ensued.

I wonder how many German vehicles broke on the Polish roads.....?

Those that survived no doubt fell to bits on the Russian roads....

Where are the police?? Are Polish people behaving like 'scumbags', because they are simply, getting away with it?? I know there are a few theories in relation to the insane murderous driving practices of so many people here..... but!! is the non presence of cops on the roads, and the lenient penalty system, hugely to blame. I think imaginary third laners should be banned from driving for life, or heavily fined even imprisoned. WTF eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeerg

A perfect example of this situation:
Miraculously escaped death by a car driver who, despite the lack of space on the road decided to start overtaking . " He was lucky I was not killed . Only by truck driver who pulled off the road , there were no leaders " - wrote on the Contact box 24 surfer who has registered dangerous situation . " A classic example of the lack of imagination" - says Marek road behavior pirate Konkolewski Police Headquarters .

Fortunately, such incidents are rare.

Think we need to show some of our road safety advertisements in Poland.
youtube.com/watch?v=gYpuPZYrd2M