Crying Polish truck driver on British roads is Internet hit

PlasticPole I agree they should have a spot,The police were responding to a call about a driver who was brandishing a knife when told he couldn't keep his truck there.Until they can actually assess the situation for themselves they have to treat it as such.I don't blame the police in how they handled it,nor do I think he was mistreated.

Agree 100%. The real issue is his very inappropriate, irrational behavior. There are many language schools in Poland, why not offer truck drivers to learn English before sending them abroad? A half of it wouldn't happen if he spoke English but then again, his behavior wasn't helping him either. To be honest, this guy shouldn't be on the road to begin with.

... where, if he had come across the wrong type of cop, he would have been tasered or even shot because he was wielding a "dangerous weapon" at a police officer. In my opinion the guy can count his blessings for being given a 30 pound fine and told to move on. The hard shoulder is no place to peel potatoes, no matter how many lorry drivers were in front of him or behind him.

He says he's been a truck driver for twenty years or so and has been travelling all over Europe. His vast experience as a truck driver should have made him wiser. The hard shoulder is a very dangerous place to be, anywhere in the world.

- survivegroup.org/download_files/Leaflet%2022-06-07.pdf
- safermotoring.co.uk/safetyonhardshoulder.html
- youtube.com/watch?v=TjxYUnrbDt0

Plastic, we both know that our cops wouldn't be so "nice" with that guy.

It was a misunderstanding. The guy had a knife because of the potatoes and people say that is brandishing a weapon. If he had the knife for no reason, I can understand why people would say that it was because he was told to move, but he was eating a potato and that's why it was there. He should still move the truck and all but I still think it's a bit too much considering he's just parked there and he's on the job.


I LOL when I read this. OMG how many people shouldn't be on the road to begin with. I see drivers every day a hundred times worse than that, going 90 mph weaving in and out of traffic. I have seen wrecks nearly happen right before my eyes because people are speeding and following the car in front of them at a close distance. I see so much stuff every time I am on the highway yet there's no police or anything. It's just reckless. Where are the cops when people are driving this dangerously? They are handing out tickets to guys like this parked on shoulder. OMG it's so irritating.

To be fair there are many UK lorry drivers crossing the channel every day, and they don't speak any foreign languages and it's possible the same could happen to them. This poor guy couldn't understand English, so didn't know what the police were saying to him and it was only when the interpreter told him, it was only going to be a parking offense, he calmed down. Hopefully he has learned from this and be more careful next time.

driving skills aside (agree here) but not very many of those who can't really drive, act like him.

No, they act a hundred times worse with no regard for the other driver whatsoever. I have no idea how this guy acts when he is actually driving, he could be a really good truck driver. Truck drivers display better driving skills than other drivers. They have heard of turn signals, too.

PlasticPole,I know it was a misunderstanding,I was speaking as to the mindset of the police going in to the situation,until they can assess

for themselves,they have to assume the call is as reported.I figured it was because he thought he was going to be arrested that he behaved

that way.I'm glad he only got a ticket.

true but English is widely spoken, while Polish is not (sorry guys, don't mean to sound arrogant). It's just the way it is.


you're talking about driving itself while I'm talking about his totally, irrational behavior.

Last message from near Białystok, birthplace of Ludwig Zamenhof. English has achieved what Zamenhof hoped Esperanto would.
Over and out. Good night.

True, but the camera kept focusing on the potato peels.

There are, however laws about the hard shoulder on motorways are fairly universal and waving a knife at the police is stupidity in any language.

Plastic Pole people like you give Poles a bad name. Your type constantly defends ****** behavior out of some blind sense of nationalism where everyone else is always to blame. Why will you not address the fact the he was the ONLY one who didn't do as told except the Turk who did so quietly once the additional Police came? This Pole's behavior was WRONG, and ridiculous. The Police did nothing wrong. If he had been Hungarian or British or anything else you wouldn't care but because he was Polish you jump to his aid. It is a horrible habit many Poles have...inability to admit fault and shifting blame to everyone else in some dramatic fashion. This grown man acted like a baby.

Eberhart, have you read my posts? They are not about Poles. They are about priorities!

Firstly, how rationally would you act if a police stopped you in a middle of nowhere and you wouldn`t understand a word what the cops were talking about and going to do with you ?

Secondly , moderator explained to you that he calmed down when he was told he would get be just ticketed , but your own comment sounded irrationally telling that- " English is more popular than Polish , sorry guys."

So , do you think that Poles have no right to enter English border as truck drivers because their command of English is insufficient and on the other hand English truck drivers should be allowed on the sole basis that English is more popular language and every Polish cop should be able to communicate in English with you not to put you in irrational behaviour while being caught for driving offence ? - answer me !

I most certainly would not start waving a knife around while talking to them. That would not be a good idea.

Speaking from personal experience, smiling and being polite both go a long way when dealing with police that one cannot understand.


If they are such bad drivers that they routinely stop for a meal on the hard shoulder, they shouldn't be allowed into a driver's seat in any country.

And how did you come up with this conclusion ?

Did he think that he had done anything at all wrong by parking up on the hard shoulder of the motorway?

My question was different

So what?

a) If a British truck driver started waving a knife at Polish police, we all know he'd get more than a 140zl fine and sent on his way. Whether the driver wished to use the knife as a weapon or as something to peel potatoes is irrelevant: it is a lethal weapon. Please remember that no weapon more menacing than a box cutter was used during the 9/11 attacks.

b) If a British (or Polish) truck driver decided to park up on the hard shoulder of a motorway in Poland, he'd be lucky to get away with a 140zl fine. Why did the driver in the video think he could get away with behaving in the UK a way which he knew would get him into trouble in Poland?

Parking on this hard shoulder is an offense yes but hardly a big deal. It isnt even a moving violation. Just the ridiculous drama is enough to cause anyone rivers of tears from frustration and mental anguish!

By the guy's own admission he'd been an international lorry driver for for twenty years. He ought to know the job, where he can and cannot park his lorry etc, and he ought to know how to behave when the police stop him.

You might find that actually it results in deaths on a depressingly regular basis, which is why it is illegal, even for drivers who are Polish and hungry.

the 'ridiculous drama' was from him, don't be silly, the police were just doing their job. As Harry said, the law is there for a reason.

And as Jon said, an experienced lorry driver should know this.
Incidentally in view of him waving a knife about and having hysterics, he was extremely lucky not be taken, held for hours under the mental health act, etc etc., and the fact that he

was not, was purely down to the police treating him well, very well indeed.
why is it just Americans who are whining on about this?

Hey,I'm not whining about it lol:)

It is hard for me to discuss if you use personal attack on me.
I didn`t have an idea that this case was linked with my profession and my professional skills. Congrats for carrying a mature discussion here.

Answering to your unpleasant retort - this case has nothing to do with the offence and the law. It is about handling the case by professional police in your country. I feel it is exaggerated and they acted like a bunch of animals laughing at the face of the guy and filming it.

Shame on UK police and you who defend such behavior.
I wish you all be ridiculed on Polish TV the same way he was.

In Poland the whole case would be handled the way like this : Polish police would ask you : do you speak Polish , sir ? If not they would contact you with a translator and follow the legal procedures .

You know expats , my opinion is that Polish police is too lenient with you here in Poland . That`s just my view.

I seriously doubt that.
anyway, he was supplied with an interpreter within minutes, didn't you notice?
I thought the police in this video were polite and professional,they just saw the humour in the situation too.
Perhaps explain to us how and where exactly they 'behaved like animals'?
Some people have no sense of humour......

In February I got nabbed in a typical traffic cop trap. I had just passed the green town sign on a wide and empty stretch of road without houses and footpaths and was decellerating. Out jumped the cop with her lollypop and in I pulled. I supplied my documents, waited for my 200PLN fine and six points, thanked the very pleasant lady officer (it's a British thing) and went on my way. And I'm not a professional driver. No tears, no knife. We all know that the only reason some are defending this utter arse is that he is Polish. That's the plain, simple, pathetically predictable truth. Grow the f up.

ROFL!!! Do they bollocks! I have never, ever, even once been offered an interpreter when stopped by the Polish police while driving. The standard MO if they decide that I've done something wrong is that they write a number on a piece of paper and I pay them that much. Now that I come to think of it, I have never even once heard of an interpreter being offered to any of the foreigners I know who have been stopped while driving. But is sure is interesting to see how things happen on planet monia!


Your opinion is in no way connected with reality.