So I went to Warsaw - my thoughts after visiting Poland

I also realized long ago (after a few terrifying long distance rides) that Polish people drive the same way they walk.


I decided long ago that there's no need for me to ever drive in Poland because my US defensive driving skills (looking around, not always going as fast as I can, yielding the right of way, paying attention to pedestrians) would make me a danger. The only way to survive would be to start driving like locals and..... no, just no. no no no no no no no no no no no...... no

And bad Polish driving has been in the news with the horrific accident in Slovakia where three Poles were driving recklessly and one of them careened head on into a local family in their car.

What's also weird in a it-would-be-funny-it-it-weren't-so-awful way is how Polish news coverage focuses on the cars (luxury models!) as if the cars were more important than the people.... and expert commentators brought in to discuss the case all have an air of "if it had been me, I totally would have been cool and avoided the accident..."

Motorists in Italy are certainly right up there. It's another one of those 'no rules of the road' countries.

But it's fun!

I hate driving abroad because they actually enforce the rules there. I don't drive dangerously, but speed limits are hilariously optional here.

Years ago a colleague who drove from Swarzędz to western Poznan several times a week described her process of adaptation: "I just expect the worst possible behavior from other drivers.... and it's what I get"

No. Crims should be off the road (as in 4 pts + 4 pts +4 pts = a years' ban) Do you think that lives lost is "fun"? The only advantage is that I drive an old car, so the tossers generally stay well clear as they can see that I'm not going to take any nonsense.

Come on. You can google up that kind of job offers.


LOL ! And then...


Dude, I never go into any shop "with my troubles". You are that pain in the ass guy making problems out of nothing and then you prentend to be some charming genteman. People working in retail are underpaid and usually overworked - especially in discount shops - low prices don't come out of nothing, they don't wany neither your "troubles" nor your smiles. Shopping is a friggin process, you take the stuff, pay for it and that's it. If you want to be "nice" to people, just do it without wasting anyone's time. That's just another "master of the obvious" thing but apparently it's too difficult for you to understand.

Besides, who "most of us" are ? You people are immigrants. Over hear we don't have to put 5 X please into one sentence in order to be polite. Some things do differ. Just like you people call each other by "you" - that's the underclass kind of behavior from our point of view but... it's really not our problem. You, as the immigrants, should assimilate. Or you can complain on all those things living in your "expat" fantasy word but no one really cares.

Is there really no law about police harrassment here? It would surely have been better if the young lad had told the police to do one?

youtube.com/watch?v=j9gvKCbLnq8

Yawn... there surely are more urgent things to do, for example psychiatric tests for "expat teachers".

for the police - to avoid them harassing people. Of course you love the concept of harassment - having lived and continuing to live, in your own "post" totalitarian world.

Yes, someone speaking broken Polish wanting low paid retail workers to solve his problems for him.... AND to smile and be friendly while doing so.

I go to stores to buy something, I say hello and thank you and and goodbye I'm always at least civil... and that's enough. The kindest, most polite thing I can do to retail workers is to let them get on with their jobs without expecting them to put on a kabuki show of friendliness that neither of us feels.

And you enjoy the long faces and lack of care? Good for you!

Yeah thanks for posting that video Dougpol. That is basically typical Polish police and how they treat people. It isn't the fact that they stopped him that pisses me off. I can understand they have a job to do and if indeed there were a lot of bicycles stolen in that area and they were doing some general checks on people riding them, fine. It's the way they spoke to the kid, treating him like trash, like he is guilty before they even know anything, constantly asking him why he is nervous. How about, because a second ago he was riding his bike and now suddenly police are going through all his stuff.

.....and all the time there are madmen driving like lunatics, and domestics....you would have thought when they had had a quick look in his bag they would have said "OK son, enjoy your ride." Fair do.

Instead they let themselves get riled by the fact the lad had a headcam and blatantly harassed the lad, going over his possessions with a fine toothcomb, even messing with his bike without his consent. I would have made an official complaint, right the way up to Gazeta/TVN.

Little people.

I see no harassment, a thorough and complete search was carried out, If Polish Police were to patrol the streets of London, there would not be so many dead from gun an knife crime, good to see the guy was compliant and respectful of the law, that's the way it should be.

And have you any theories of why the lad posted the video? We can tell from his voice and actions that he was a middle class student type, not a crim - but the police in the usual Polish town are so dim they wouldn't know the difference.. After a quick initial stop, it was harrassment. Pure and simple. Though it all boils down to what sort of a society you want I suppose.

I have been stopped and searched a few times in London...
"Sorry sir - we've had a few burglaries around here lately...would you mind telling us what's in that bag....would you mind if we took a look....?

"Certainly officer - no problem....."
"Oh OK...sorry about that......thank you sir....yes..we're having a few problems here....thank yyou for your co-operation.....Bye now!"
That little typical exchange takes a couple of minutes...........co-operation is the name of the game when the police are doing what we pay them for.

This on the other hand was intimidation and harassment. Poor policing in my opinion. And I would have told them so, obstructed them, and so held them up for a good forty minutes so they would think hard next time..

I would take that film to the school director and have the school make a complaint that one of its pupils was being harassed. Then I would give that student a school award for behaving impeccably in the face of provocation from that gormless male officer.

What we want is a society where people are stopped when there is reason to believe a crime may have been committed. Here a schoolboy is riding along a Warsaw street in minus 11 on his way to school (with a bag - which is a useful thing to take to school......). But Sherlock came to the amazing deduction that the rider just may be one of Polands' criminal masterminds on his way back from a heist, on a stolen bike because his BMW is at the mechanics.

Tis true. British police are much more polite. Now some say the British police aren't firm enough and I agree, to a degree, in situations involving individuals who don't do what they ask and start to kick off, they need to deal with them firmly, but there is no need to treat a person like crap if you stop them and they are complying with everything you say. You could tell the cop searching the kid in the video likes to abuse his authority, just by the way he was talking.

But that's the Poland that Dolno, Undercover, and millions of Poles actually want. They actually want abuse of "power" and communism back! You really couldn't make it up.

I told you before. WE simply don't want your gayish stuff here. You can cry till the end of your little life.


I don't doubt it. They also look the other way when muslims rape children. Enjoy your new homeland.

No we don't want crime to reach the proportions of other major cities around Europe especially drugs, yes those cops were looking for amphetamines, do you really think they wanted to be out of the car at -10c, (flash bike flash phone flash gopro)

Look at the carnage In London hundreds stabbed and shot in one year all to do with supplying the liberal leftie lovies with their recreational drugs (Does that ring a bell with you Doug).

Poland is tough on crime and criminals, the Police will do what is necessary to prevent the carnage you see in places like London if they upset or stop a few innocent people including myself then so be it.

Yes Doug millions of us want a safe country, we don't want a political correct Police force like that in London,too scared to stop and search while muggings acid attacks stabbings shootings drug dealing rapes and murder go on around them.


Fool.

Those clowns couldn't find a **** in a sewage farm.
Harassment - and you seem to love it. Totally indefensible from a human rights viewpoint. But you clearly want a totalitarian country back - where the police have special powers. It seems you've been spoilt by all your years in Britain. This side of Poland is absolutely not what your grandfather fought for.

You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting those pigs against an innocent schoolboy minding his own business.


That is not a flash bike. I have 4 cycles in my shed, and happen to know something about bikes actually, as you know about flash cars. All my students have Go-pros; nothing special in that.There you go, trying to vindicate the police behaviour. There is no excuse in that, and it would be grounds for complaint in any western European country - which Poland stated in the early 90s that it would be happy to emulate in some ways, on the path to normalisation.

Instead, you seem happy for your country to go backwards. I wonder why that is? Cheaper prices for the elite? Anyway, It's great that the police here never harass the local citizens. Never. Some of my Polish friends, some of who are old boys around town, would have spoken of it. Doesn't exist.

But in Warsaw the police are allowed to bully the citizens? Amazing.

You much prefer the ZOMO method of policing, don't you?

Thanks for bumping this WP. I think the Neo-Cons here should address my concerns.
Signed, a patriot - deffo not a nationalist who thinks the state is all powerful.

Fact is, majority of Poles don't want gay marriage. That's Polish people's decision, no one else's.


You really think they'd care about cops searching a random person? Even on a slow news day I doubt they'd care...


Is there a specific law against searching people randomly in Poland? I know in Holland, USA and a few others cops can't randomly search people and must prove probable cause beforehand. Idk what the laws in Poland regarding that are... He could've been riding around in a know drug area or there could've been a crime with the person matching dude's description for all we know...


If going 'forward' means regular Islamic terror, thousands of women raped, billions spent on migrants who refuse to work, gay marriage, cops who can't even defend themselves or citizens, a person like merkel doing everything to erase our culture and identity then yeah, better to be backwards.... at least that's what the majority of Poles prefer and that's what kept us safe and being sacrificed on the altar of multiculturalism.

That has got nothing to do with basic politeness. That's a PC culture issue and a fear of offending someone based on identity, something I am also very much against. Police have the right to stop somebody and search them, not matter what their race, creed, religion and culture, but just don't treat them like dirt, particularly if you don't know if they are guilty or not. Now of course if they are uncooperative or abusive, you can be more assertive. Think about it, how is an ordinary citizen supposed to feel about the police if they keep getting harassed by them, when they have done nothing wrong? After a while they won't see them as being there to protect them, but as a nuisance who keep bothering ordinary decent hard working citizens.

When I was in Warsaw, there was Straz Miejska everywhere. I didn't feel safer, I felt as though they were waiting for somebody to put their foot in the wrong place, so they could hassle them.

Isn't it what police are supposed to do? Many who "put their foot in the wrong place" ended up as stains. Then, somebody has to pick up the meat and the bones and wash the pavement. You wouldn't volunteer, would you?

More evidence of the standard of driving in Poland. This piece of stupidity even had the dog shaking his head. I felt sorry for the guy driving his car. Broadsided at 20 km an hour and it toppled. Avoid these 100,000 zl plus "4 by 4s" - they're just ....shite. His roof was crushed and he was lucky to get out with only bruising.

PS Can anybody identify the car model? In reflection it is a cheapo? The roof was partially crushed and the lad on the right was lucky not to be topped.

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Hard to tell what it is, but how the hell did he end up there?

Oh wait, I know. Traditional Polish car park driving, where you need to drive as if you've got a micropenis.

The weird thing was, the car was bumbling along at a sort of OK speed, and another shot of his parking space, and broadsided him, as you can see in the pic. All so avoidable - another instance of zero care and respect for other users. Here's another pic.

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