Returning for the car after work, I beheld yet another smash at Ursynów (below), another instance of travelling too fast without due care and attention. According to TVN Warszawa, the driver of this car ran a red light.
Below: Some people are proud of being piraci drogowi ('road pirates') who drive like complete fools. 99 times out of a hundred they get to their destination without a problem. Then one day they cause a fatal accident. Should people displaying such an attitude be allowed on Poland's public roads?
All around me mad drivers, bad drivers... the driver of a Volvo V60 on Piaseczno plates pulling across three lanes of traffic, into the right-hand filter lane to dodge back into the left-hand lane, just to be able to jump two cars ahead of me - while speaking into her mobile phone and steering with one hand... the driver of a Lotus Elise revving up furiously and tearing through Ursynów at an obscene speed... the driver of a Maserati Quattroporte using his laptop in slow-moving traffic on ul. Puławska...
And then, as I drove down ul. Trombity, not far from our house, I drove into an improbably deep hole in the road, full of water - result - a puncture and, for the second time on our street, a ripped front spoiler. All at less than 30 kmh.
(Incidentally, if you own a Toyota Yaris and want to know where the jack is, don't bother phoning Toyota Polska's "help"line. It's under the driver's seat (yes!). Thanks to Lacrosse's Andrew Nathan, who googled it for me while we were talking business. He didn't have to; but Toyota's useless call centre operator, who was there to help in such cases, showed zero initiative or real willingness to help.)
And all this on the day when Poland's infrastructure minister was facing his third no-confidence vote... [What's the TIME, Mr Nowak? It's TIME for you to QUIT. Just look at your watch.]
Poland should erect a momentously huge statue to all the infrastructure ministers that held office since 1989, and place it near Stryków, where the motorways run out. Cezary Grabarczyk (PO)... Jerzy Polaczek (PiS - remember him?)... Marek Pol, (Unia Pracy - thanks Sportif)... Tadeusz Syryjczyk (AWS)... A vast 50 metre high human figure representing them all; eyes scanning the horizon; rolled-up plans in hand; purposefully striding forth in Wellington boots and hard-hat...
"Look on my lack of works, ye Taxpayers, and despair..."
This time last year:
Dragonfly summer
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7 comments:
We share exactly the same feelings about car use. Generally, I only use the car before 7am and after 10pm - this way I know very few people will be on the roads. Between these times I prefer to walk. Some of my other village residents think I'm crazy to walk the half kilometre between villages for the bus - until we hear of another overturned car in the hedgerow...
Good luck to everyone who drives in Poland!
I would also like to make it legal to cycle on the pavements where no cycle lane exists. You'd have to be mad to cycle on the roads in Poland. Are there statistics on cyclist injuries available? Would be interesting to see how they compare proportionally to London.
Marek Pol to Unia Pracy
@ sportif - you are quite right! I shall correct. Unia Pracy - whatever happened to them?!?
czesc:
I feel your pain. A few days after the "car-towing incident", I experienced the "loss-of-brakes incident".
Last weekend, after a very long day of sitting in the hot sun watching my son play baseball, I decide to drive to a local coffee shop.
On the way back to the baseball diamond, my brakes feel a little "strange".
After the game we take the boys to a local pizzeria. I drive the Honda. I suddenly realize that I've lost my ability to brake on the busy streets of Toronto. What fun. Thank goodness for the hand brake.
I arrive at the pizzeria a tad white-faced and tell hubby what has happened. After pizza, HE drives the car home. Apparently, the brakeline ruptured and all the brake fluid leaked out. I'm relieved it happened close to home (and hubby). Looks like we need to go car shopping. :(
Thanks for this post, Michał. I have had a blog post of my own brewing for some time on the subject of Polish drivers. I'd like it to turn into something other than a rant - I am currently assembling my list of adjectives to describe the attitudes of too many Polish drivers . . . it's a long list.
Without launching into my rant now, what I'm wondering is how to direct my dismay at the attitudes of many (not all) Polish drivers constructively. How can 'right headed' drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians help to change these horribly dangerous attitudes? I am often tempted to 'change' one driver at a time, by offering homemade Canadian knuckle sandwiches. I know that this is not a wise strategy.
I don't have a car, I don't even ride a bike. But I AM a road user - I have to cross many Polish streets and I do it in fear for my life . . . Fully 38 percent of traffic fatalities in this country are pedestrians.
So what can we reasonable, courteous, careful road users do to change the way things are? I think about this question every day.
And I use car, underground, train and tram to get to work - this is the fastest way, I assume.
"Shuffling" vehicles changing lane before Puławska / Rzymowskiego junction - order of the day. If you drive there, just be careful and be ready to skim on you brake.
Pirat drogowy - why not 'a road HOG'?
Should people displaying such an attitude be allowed on Poland's public roads? - how would you check if a would-be driver is a downright moron?
One thing that particlarly winds me up is when drivers can't move at the same speed. They pull out, then stop, over and over again. I, in turn, turn the second gear, don't press the gas pedal and let the car coast at the speed of 10 kmph. Before cars in front of me pull out I'll approach them. Such style of driving saves on fuel and clutch, but has a significant drawback - if you don't drive bumper to bumper the space between you and the car ahead of you is an invitation to cut in.
Yesterday motorway bypass of Wrocław was open for traffic. I travelled it less than 30 minutes after the opening and this is the most beatiful raod I've ever seen in Poland. Besides, if you travel by car around the country you see a lot is going on. There are traffic restrictions, roads are narrow, traffic is arranged in contraflow, but I could see a clear shape of much better road network - coverage soon on PES.
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