200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts?

Title says it all really. Hard to swallow situation, which left a sour taste!! I used to have a lot of respect for Polish policemen and their apparent common sense (at least compared to their UK comrades). This latest situation has taken that respect away. The situation was that my wife and I were pulled for no reason other than not wearing belts. This, having entered the car no more than 100 meters away from the pull site, and our destination was only 50 meters from that location!!

The young 'point to prove, I'm wearing a uniform' policeman, immediately stated his intention of fining and taking points. Never have I met a more unreasonable, rude person. Honest to his word, the mandat was produced and my wife's points were duly noted. We just looked at each other as if to say: No, he's not going take points, no way, no, smile. SHOCK HORROR, jaw drop as he jots down details on the ticket

Was this unlucky? Yes we were in the wrong, but common sense should prevail from any reasonable person. He's pulling us for not wearing seatbelts, yet letting every other tom, dick and harry drive like, well a seriously inebriated tom, dick and harry. As long as they're wearing seatbelts, who gives a f***!!

Why do you think (and give me EVIDENCE) that the LAW should not apply to you?

The law says you MUST wear a seatbelt. End of. You either follow the law or you PAY.

Riding in a car in Poland, I don't feel safe even with seatbelts. But I'd certainly not go without them.

Why did you feel it necessary to drive 150m?

I've been fined and pointed twice for this, 50PLN and two points, then 100 + 2. I knew the law and chose to flaunt it.
I agree that cops everywhere could make friends by using their discretion more, but we are in no position to complain when they don't.


Suck it up, soldier!

You win some, you lose some.

tuff shitski

You mean you lose respect for people when they're doing their job?


And? The law is pretty clear - you can't start the car without the seatbelt on. It was rammed into my head when I was learning to drive - do not start the car without the belt fastened. As for the punishment - the driver is responsible in Poland.


Well yes, that's what he's supposed to do.


What common sense? It's illegal to start the car without the seatbelt fastened.

For me, it's fair enough - I remember thinking that the police were very reasonable after getting stopped for doing 71 in a 50 - it was Sunday morning, I couldn't be arsed with the speed limit and got caught. Lesson learnt.

did they nail you with the speed gun?

haha exactly.


Buddy I got a $250 ticket for speeding in Ohio, what was I supposed to say? I broke the law, I wasn't an attractive woman so it didn't slide lol

Yep, somewhere between Klodzko and Kudowa. It was more than fair - right in the middle of the village. Okay - the road was empty - but still.

Krakman, it was your fault for not wearing seatbelts. End of dicussion.

You didn't see them, didn't hit the brakes? getting nailed by the speed gun is harsh.

I dont see how anybody can be done for not having seat belts, as soon as you see the Police put them on.

Ohh i see:


He may have seen you not strap them on, in which cased you were totally taking the p1ss, the Police man would have been like, "they can see im standing right here".

Individually they are not that bad but the system is far from perfect. Quality of work of Police stations/departments/units here is being evaluated mostly based on statistics... So from time to time some commanding officer, once realize that his unit is far behind average in the number of tickets issued, tell his people: get out on the streets and don't you dare to come back without at least 10 tickets issued each of you. In result people are getting silly fines.

How about this. About four years ago the cops turned up one Sunday at my place and showed me a picture of my car, taken with a portable, un-manned speed-trap camera going through a village. The instrument said I'd been going 82kph. The road in that village has since been resurfaced, but at that time it was terrible, and I always went slowly through it. I was fined 200PLN and got six points. I'm always ready to put my hands up and admit it if I've screwed up, but on this occasion I was definitely not going more than 40 or 50kph. But hey, wtf could I do? Argue with a camera? I paid up. Yes, I know I could have argued the case in court and demanded that the device be tested, etc. etc. but I reckoned it would have cost me thousands to do that and I probably would have lost anyway.

Not somebody else driving your car?

I think that the policeman did a perfect job with no that Slavic tenderheartedness and all... The breach was indeed a silly one.

Fair point. We were shopping for heavy items and hence jumping from one shop to the next in quick succession


Not when they do their job in a respectful manner. However, acting in a rude, arrogant and obnoxious way, then yes I completely lose respect.


Very reasonable indeed. You put other motorists' lives in danger. Anybody who speeds because they can't be 'arsed' with limits, should not be driving in the first place.

Well, seatbelts, these are almost an obsession of Polish police. It is very irritating, and I can see why it can take a foreigner aback.

I mean, with speeding, I am going to endanger other people's lives. But seatbelt, it is just my own life. If I am wiling to risk it, so what. My life, my decission. Good luck with explaining it to a cop, though. I guess, it is just a phase. We need to wait it off.

you are responsible for ensuring that your passenger is wearing a seatbelt.

Or, you can burn alive in your car, because seatbelts kept you in place. Think about it.
Seatbelts on the freeway, when you are going fast? Sure. Seatbelts in town, when you cannot get over 50 km/h? Ridicules.

No. It was me alright. Wrongly busted by faulty technology.


That's a good point. I used to work with an anaesthetist who refused to wear a seatbelt on the grounds that she had seen the results of people who had been trapped in cars while strapped in. Now, this was twenty-five years ago, so no doubt the release mechanisms are better than they were, but how how about this. If you have airbags, why do you need seatbelts?

i don't have to think about it. i know of one case where it happened. and all because none of the passersby had a knife to cut the belt.

I heard that a man ran into a lamp pole driving 50 kmph. He hit the helm which tore his spleen. By the time the ambulance came he was dead.

That's logical but on the other hand when you get seriously injured in a not that terribly looking road accident because you were not wearing seatbelts, NFZ will have to spend a lot of money to put you in one pieace again and that is not your money, that is our money. This example perfectly shows that once we go into collectivism, It's often impossible to use common sense solutions anymore.

Grzegorz, the day we have to give up common sense, that will be sad day, for sure. Thankfully, I think that it is just a police, who lost common sense, temporarily.

You are worried about NFZ? Really? C'mon, gimme a break. NFZ does not pay for anything serious nowdays. If you got anything more dangerous then common cold, if you count on NFZ to help you, you are going to die, while waiting in the queue.

Sasha, I am willing to take that risk. Why sholudnt I?

71km/h on an open road, on a bright morning with beautiful driving conditions, in a village with barely any houses is hardly "dangerous".


Are they even tested in the Polish version of the MOT? I wouldn't want to rely on mine...

I know plenty of people who got decent NFZ treatment. Me included. Heck, I paid 3zl for some antibiotics the other day - can't complain.

So its ok to climb a mountain in winter, to ski off-piste, send troups into battle, but, we cannot drive 400 metres without being protected by the state. When the police do it, its in the line of duty, when the police crash into an innocent bystander during a high speed chase, its allowed because they have had a weeks training at an advanced drivers course.

Life is a risk!!!, whether on a plane, in a train or on a boat (see Italy), you life is "never" in your own hands.

Stop looking to blame and accept "Karma", "fate, whatever you want to call it. Just be as careful as you can and hope that the other people around you do the same.

Delph, and I know someone who probably got a cancer. Waited more then half a year for a doctor to see him. Then got send to MRI imaginig. Waited half a year for his turn. After geting the results, he waited more then half a year, untill doctor could have seen these results. Doctor was not sure, so he have send him for the biopsy. For the biopsy, there was also a queue. Almost a year. He finally got the results of the biopsy, and now is waiting for the doctor to see it. Another half a year. Judging by his looks by now, I dont think he is going to live that long.

Simple. Cause the government doesn't want to take a risk of losing yet another taxpayer, potential father/mother of another taxpayer, worker who can contribute to the wellbeing of the state and if you're a man a potential soldier. That is why.

Yes, we all want freedom of... everything. But freedom is in fact a very loose concept. We are eventually not free of some duties imposed by the government particularly via the notion of patriotism.

Healthcare in Poland is patchy to be sure. A new thread would be interesting. Let's stay on topic just in case there are Canadian people watching.

One very positive development is the fact that fines in Poland cannot be paid directly to the cop by the side of the road (with exceptions for tourists).