Road deaths increase in Poland

Unfortunately sometimes there are actually too many crossings, such as every 150 metres on one Katowice Zaleze street , so that old ladies can "cross the road in safety". The thinking is, "If I stopped at every pedestrian crossing for every poor person who doesn't have a car, I would be late for my shift at the mine."

Answer - get up earlier.
Johnny is right about cameras, but in well-heeled downtown 3 city there are none. Zilch.

The best way to stop pedestrians being killed on zebra crossings or any other official crossings is to have a barrier (like they have on unmanned train crossings) which would come down before the pedestrian went on the crossing. Other than that, is to have lights at every crossing, where pedestrians would wait till it's their turn to cross.

Pedestrians should be fined for walking into a crossing without first looking left, right, left - and cameras installed at the crossings could pick this up and drivers could then sue pedestrians for anguish, pain and suffering.

You surely can't mean that? Do you drive in the UK? (your profile says you live there). From your outwardly pro-car bias, you likely do. The Highway Code is very clear:

"Move ahead when it is safe to do so, proceeding at a speed that is appropriate to the conditions, and paying attention to other road users." The term road users also clearly refers to pedestrians crossing the road.

Your opinion is completely about face in my view. It is the pedestrian that has the right of way, not the car. When you are driving near a pedestrian crossing, you should be assuming that there is the possibility that the person will step out, and drive accordingly. As to legal action in the event of a collision, that is for the police and their witnesses to note and for the courts to decide.

The Belisha beacon flashing warning light has saved literally thousands of lives, and Polish roads are a deathtrap, and badly need something similar, so that drivers can clearly see where the pedestrian crossing is. I blame the town halls for being filled with idiots (and that includes town planners and engineers) who have no real concept of how dark and insufficiently signposted pedestrian crossings are.

It really is a scandal, and it needs addressing urgently, but not with barriers for pedestrians - as I stated, you place the car first, and that has no legal standpoint.

I may live in England (officially,) but I spend 182 days a year in Krakow, Poland, so have an idea of how drivers drive and pedestrians cross the road.

Polish drivers and pedestrians have their own rules of the road.
I suggested barriers coming down at every zebra crossing, but somehow no one seems to think that it is a good idea.

I really can't believe you said that terri! The best way to stop pedestrians being killed is to make sure that drivers actually stop at the crossings in the first place, just as they do in the UK. People stood at crossings are not doing it for entertainment, they are waiting to cross the road at a supposedly safe point. Cameras and hefty fines for those failing to stop. Otherwise just paint over them as it is pointless them being there.


Exactly although you'd never know it. Things need to change or the road death statistics will be back to how they were years ago, when Poland had one of the worst road traffic safety records in Europe.

So you are in the perfect situation to compare the UK system, which is a definite one (the pedestrians' foot is on the road - the driver MUST stop if safe to do so in the distance given - and this permitted braking distance clearly does not apply if he is speeding) and the totally mixed up Polish system - where I believe that nobody knows for sure what the law actually is.

But given that personal opinion, which one do you think, as a Pole, is safer?

Legally, I am still not a Pole, as there were mistakes on the Confirmation of Polish citizenship that I received in September 2017 - so I am still spending a lot of time in Courts.

Crossing the road, or a zebra crossing is a million times safer in the UK than in Poland.
There are official rules in Poland regarding pedestrians and drivers behaviour, but no one seems to know exactly what they are. I have myself been halfway on a zebra crossing when a car passed in front of me on the actual crossing going at some speed and if I didn't jump back I would be dead.

Those are the rules that currently operate in Poland.

Honestly,I have seen changes in the driving habbits of people in Poland lately..The fines are stiff and the cops dont take much bribes like a decade before.

Surely this is covered in the theory part of the driving test? I bet learner drivers would stop at zebra crossings on the practical component of their driving test.


Largely because drivers know they have to stop in accordance with the highway code. Poland should follow suit if it wants road deaths to fall.

Yes, of course. Everyone does, it's pretty much a guaranteed fail if you don't. If you stop and the person doesn't cross, you're supposed to verbally ask the examiner for permission to proceed.

So the rules about this are quite clear then but drivers are choosing to ignore them. That's just bad driving practice in my book.

It's all down to the lack of enforcement. My friend was just caught with highly illegal headlights, and they basically told him to change them and send him on his way. The car is king, and there's no will to enforce the rules.

youtu.be/72XmLdtIZIU

This is how normal people cross the road.