Polish President Says Safety Must Improve On Poland's Roads
Classified Polnews
The catastrophic bus accident that killed Polish Pilgrims in France has prompted Poland's President to pay attention to road safety in Poland.
Too Many
Deaths On
Polish Roads
He said that a program must be put in place to combat bad driving in Poland.
His emphasis on trying to change the bad driving habits of Poles is in stark contrast to the common tendency to blame accidents in Poland on the condition of the Polish roads.
Driving on Polish roads is dangerous.
In spite of a zero tolerance policy on drunk driving and a low alcohol blood level limit, driving drunk is quite common.
Drunk driving came under attack by the Minister of Justice shortly after the Kaczynski Government took power. New regulations were put in place and 24 hour courts established to better combat the problem. See Polish police confiscate cars of drunks on the spot and lenient drunk prosecutors fired
But the punitive approach taken by Ziobro has done little or nothing to change the attitude of Polish drivers either toward drinking or irresponsible driving. The road carnage continues with continued blame being placed on the condition of the Polish roads.
Though the large majority of Polish roads are old, substandard and poorly maintained, people drive on them like they are superhighways. They ignore road signs, warnings and traffic lights. There is an all too common attitude that a driver can do whatever he wishes because the other driver is obligated to get out of his way. See Poland: The Bad Thing About Polish Roads Is The Drivers
Adjusting speeds and driving methods to the prevailing road conditions is something little discussed. Building better roads so irresponsible drivers can less likely have accidents is more common. It is an attitude of treating a symptom rather than looking for the problem.
The tour operator whose clients died in the bus crash in France is considering suing the French Authorities because the 11 to 16 signs warning that buses should not go on the steep mountain road were not sufficient. He thinks that there should be physical impediments to prevent the buses from going on that road. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80273,4354561.html Orlando Travel zlozy pozew przeciw francuskim wladzom?
In short, he demonstrates an attitude that even professional, no less everyday, Polish drivers can be expected to ignore signs and warnings. They must be confronted with physical barriers to pay attention.
But the President has broken from that common vein of thought and is looking not at the symptom but the problem. He sees that the problem is the lack of awareness and care for road safety.
The President has proposed that a program be put in place to educate and make people aware of road safety.
Source Prezydent: trzeba polepszyc stan bezpieczenstwa na drogach
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