The District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin has discontinued the investigation against Olgierd Geblewicz. The Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship was suspected of causing an immediate danger of a catastrophe in land traffic.
“On August 29, 2024, the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin decided to discontinue the investigation conducted against Olgierd G., suspected of causing, on May 13, 2021, on the S3 road near the town of Goleniów towards the south, an imminent danger of a disaster in land traffic (…) due to the lack of signs of a prohibited act,” the release read.
The incident took place three years ago on the S3 road between Goleniów and Szczecin. As reported by the prosecutor's office, the voivodeship marshal Olgierd Geblewicz (Civic Platform), driving a passenger car, blocked the path of a truck, “at the same time initiating an unjustified braking maneuver, causing a collision with that vehicle, and then stopping in the right lane, blocking traffic on the right lane of the expressway”.
Car-truck collision
The collision only became public when a recording from a camera in the truck's cabin appeared on the Internet. The video shows the driver of the passenger car overtaking the truck, moving to the right lane and braking suddenly. There is a collision. A man gets out of the car, gesticulates, walks along the road with a phone in his hand. It turned out to be the province marshal driving his official Skoda.
The Goleniów District Police Headquarters initiated proceedings in May 2021 on a misdemeanour under Article 86 of the Code of Misdemeanours, i.e. endangering road safety. The case was later referred to the Szczecin prosecutor's office and an investigation was conducted under Article 166 of the Penal Code, i.e. exposing oneself to direct danger of loss of life, serious bodily harm or serious health disorder, and Article 174 of the Penal Code, which refers to causing direct danger of a catastrophe in land traffic.
“Potential” but not “specific” danger
The prosecutor’s office reported that during the investigation a number of procedural activities were carried out, allowing for the reconstruction of the course of the event.
“In the case, experts from the Faculty of Transport and Aeronautical Engineering, the Department of Road Transport of the Silesian University of Technology in Katowice, a court expert in the field of automotive technology and road traffic at the District Court in Zamość and a team of experts from the Institute of Forensic Research named after Prof. Dr. Jan Sehn – Road Accident Investigation Workshop in Poznań were appointed” – we read in the prosecutor's office's statement.
“Taking into account all the expert opinions obtained during the investigation, in connection with the entirety of the evidence gathered, it was found that the behaviour of the DAF driver blocking the road only created a situation of real risk of a collision between two vehicles, which in fact happened. The behaviour of the Skoda driver, in connection with the specific road situation, did not create a direct risk of a disaster in land traffic” – the prosecutor's office explains the decision to discontinue the investigation.
It was added that the perpetrator cannot be held responsible for committing an offence under Article 174 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code unless it is shown that the “danger” he caused was of a “specific” nature; it is not sufficient to show that this “danger” was only “potential”.
The prosecutor's office assessed that the driver's behavior after the collision, when he got out of the car and walked on the road, posed a “merely potential” threat. It was noted that the drivers of other vehicles “did not perform any defensive maneuvers at that time, nor were they forced to do so.”
It was explained that the criminal proceedings must be discontinued due to the lack of features of a prohibited act. The decision to discontinue the investigation is not final. The prosecutor's office classified the incident on S3 as a misdemeanour (art. 86 of the Criminal Code) by the driver of a passenger car. Causing a threat to safety in land traffic is punishable by a fine and a driving ban.
Who is Olgierd Geblewicz?
Olgierd Geblewicz has been the Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 2010. He also serves as the Chairman of the Provincial Road Safety Council.