Warsaw. Macierewicz caught driving. He has 31 penalty points

Tuesday, December 17, was the last day when MP Antoni Macierewicz could still legally drive a car. He has 31 penalty points on his account, and according to the regulations, you lose your driving license if you have 24 of them. He will get the document back when he passes the exam and undergoes tests.

When the MP gets behind the wheel in the next few days, he will have to take into account serious consequences. Why? The case of Macierewicz and his driving exploits was widely described on tvn24.pl. Coming on November 20th he had 31 penalty points on his accountand according to the regulations, a driver loses his driving license after “getting” 24 hours. Specialists and the police then explained to us why the MP, despite so many offenses, could still be seen driving.

Exceeding 24 points during the next inspection means that the police confiscate your driving license electronically upon receipt. The police explained that according to it, a citizen still has the right to drive a car for seven days. And the last intervention against the MP took place December 10 after the celebration of the Smolensk month anniversary. Macierewicz then drove his car to the vicinity of Piłsudski Square, where, as every month, official celebrations with the participation of PiS politicians take place. He parked illegally, which – as the police reported at the time – was seen by “another citizen” and alerted the traffic police.

Police arrested the MP a short time later while he was sitting in the driver's seat. They soon announced that they had suspended his driving license. This means that Macierewicz could legally drive the car for another week, i.e until December 17 inclusive. If after this date he is detained again, the police will submit to the court a request for a penalty for driving despite a suspended driving license. The court should issue a driving ban. If such a ban is imposed, detention for inspection will be a violation of this ban, i.e. a crime.

Whoever drives a motor vehicle on a public road, in a residential zone or in a traffic zone, without complying with the decision of the competent authority to withdraw the driving license, shall be subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to 2 years.

The MP's previous offenses

“Fakt” previously described Antoni Macierewicz's journey through the streets of Warsaw on October 31, when he allegedly violated a number of regulations: he was talking on a mobile phone, overtaking at a pedestrian crossing, crossing a double solid line and entering a bicycle lane. He admitted breaking the rules. The officers then gave him three fines in total PLN 1,800 and 21 penalty points. The police announced this on November 20.

21 penalty points in Polish regulations does not mean that you will lose your driving license. For this you need 24 points. However, it turned out that Macierewicz had already committed other offenses for which he was punished 10 points. Therefore the total balance as of November 20 was 31 pointsi.e. exceeding the permissible limit of penalty points. However, the loss of a driving license is not automatic, but is subject to an administrative procedure.

– When issuing a ticket to a politician, the police could not stop his driving license, even though the MP exceeded the maximum number of points. In such cases, the officers submit an application to the starosta to refer the driver to a qualification exam [czyli powtórny egzamin na prawo jazdy – red.]. A referral for a psychotechnical examination is also issued – explained Wojciech Pasieczny, former deputy head of the capital's traffic police.

The regulations do not define how long it takes for officials to prepare an application. A driver who exceeds the allowable number of points must wait for an appropriate letter from the office. He shouldn't be driving at this time, but he can. Robert Szumiata, spokesman for the Warsaw Police Headquarters, confirms that when the police stopped the deputy for inspection, he had the driving license, which means the procedure conducted by the district starosta has not yet been completed.

However, the driving license is retained immediately at the next possible inspection. And that's what happened in the case of the MP. The driver then receives a receipt, which includes, among others: shows that he can drive a car for another seven days. During this time, the police enter his data into the system.

MP Macierewicz took advantage of this, because he did not give up driving until December 17. On Tuesday, he was noticed by “Fakt” journalists when he was about to get into a car parked at Hoża Street around 3 p.m. Then he entered Marszałkowska and drove away towards Żoliborz. As we read, the police are closely monitoring the case.