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Yes, the police don't punish you for bumper riding. Lack of distance is the most common cause of accidents on highways

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A law has been in force for three years, which was supposed to teach drivers to stop driving on motorways and expressways, i.e. without keeping a safe distance. It didn't help – there are more and more tragedies caused by drivers not keeping their distance, and since last year it has been the most common cause of accidents on expressways. The police supposedly have equipment to fight this phenomenon, but they lack people.

  • Last year, an average of 6.26 drivers per day were fined for bumper riding. This is how many drivers a single patrol would be able to catch within a few hours at most.
  • This means that in practice the probability of receiving a penalty for driving very dangerously behind a vehicle speeding in front of us is close to zero.
  • The police answer briefly: we don't have enough patrols to deal with it properly

On the night from Friday to Saturday on the S7 road in Borków near Gdańsk 21 cars collided, four people died. The tragic sequence of events began – according to the prosecutor's office – with a 37-year-old truck driver who rear-ended the car in front of him. A few hours earlier on the Wrocław bypass 23 vehicles collidedFortunately, no one was hurt there. Senior aspirant Aleksandra Freus from the Wrocław city police emphasized in an interview with tvn24.pl right after the incident that there was a “domino effect” – first there was a collision, and then subsequent cars crashed into each other, whose drivers did not maintain either vigilance or a safe distance. .

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The day before, seven passenger cars and two trucks collided on the S8 route in Warsaw near Ksiącia Janusza Street. It started with a wild animal running onto the expressway. Drivers started braking and then more vehicles crashed into each other.

Law is one thing, reality is another

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To prevent domino effects on expressways, regulations were introduced in June 2021 specifying how many meters the distance between cars should be. The idea is that in the event of sudden braking of one of the vehicles, the driver behind has time to react. The regulations indicate that you cannot drive closer to another car than half your speed expressed in meters. When we travel at 140 km/h, the distance must be at least 70 meters. The minimum distance at 110 km/h is 55 meters and so on.

How have new regulations affected the reality on Polish roads? Nohow. The number of accidents caused by bumper riding has been increasing for years. According to police statistics, in 2020 there were 70 accidents on highways for this reason, a year later (when new regulations were introduced) there were already 96 of them.

In 2022, there were already 111 of them, and last year – already 128. For the first time, bumper riding became the most common cause of highway accidents, leaving behind excessive speed (in 2023, there were 102 accidents due to this).

The number of accidents caused by bumper riding is increasing.tvn24.pl/KGP

Laser at drivers

To ensure that the regulations introduced over three years ago are not dead, each provincial headquarters received devices that allow it to check the distance between vehicles. It looks very similar to a traditional “dryer”, a device used by the police to check speed.

In 2021, we asked the police to take a closer look at how officers monitor compliance with the new regulations. Ultimately we had to go to Poznań. The action required the involvement of several patrols. One of them – using a laser meter – checked the distances between cars and recorded those who were riding on each other's bumpers.

The BMW driver wanted to teach the driver of another vehicle a lesson10/08 | A couple returning from holiday near the Kutno junction on the A1 motorway fell victim to a road bandit in a BMW M3. The man first “sat on their bumper” and then braked in front of their car. Although the situation was dangerous, they remained calm and no accident occurred. The case was reported to the police.Patrick from Gdańsk

This information was transmitted to officers standing several kilometers away – in a place where both the police car and the target could be safely stopped. In the case of Poznań police operations, such a place is the toll collection point in Gołuski.

– We still carry out this type of actions now. Police officers check the distances between vehicles once a week, says Junior Inspector Andrzej Borowiak, spokesman for the Greater Poland Police. He adds that “the problem is common” because during one operation lasting several hours, officers are able to track down and punish several dozen drivers.

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– The maximum penalty for the offense of not keeping a safe distance is PLN 500 and six penalty points – adds Andrzej Borowiak.

He emphasizes that actions would be organized more often in Greater Poland if it were not for staff shortages.

A drop in the ocean

The problem is that Wielkopolska, which is dissatisfied with the number of inspections, fares excellently compared to the rest of the country, which – according to data provided to us by the Police Headquarters – does almost nothing to fight the plague of bumper-jumping drivers.

Since the Wielkopolska police carry out an action once a week and fine several dozen drivers during each one (for safety's sake, let's assume that the average is 10 fines), the number of tickets per year should be around five hundred.

Ride "on the bumper" on S8

Driving “on the bumper” on the S8Sławomir/Kontakt 24

Meanwhile, the Police Headquarters reported that throughout 2023, police officers throughout Poland fined 2,285 drivers for not keeping a safe distance. This means that Greater Poland alone produces almost one fourth. However, this is not the end of the bad news. This year – from January 1 to October 20 – the number of drivers punished for the same is 1,796.

What does this data tell us? That the number of inspections has dropped even further. Last year, an average of 6.26 drivers were fined per day, and this year – proportionally – only 6.06. This is how many drivers a single patrol would be able to catch within a few hours at most. One patrol, for several hours, nationwide.

The wind is blowing in the commands

What could this problem be caused by? Primarily due to the fact that there is a shortage of policemen in Poland. Currently, there are over 14,000 vacancies, mainly in prevention. The biggest staffing gap is in the capital's police, where – immediately – the police would be ready to employ almost 2.5 thousand. officers (i.e. nearly one fourth of the entire staff).

There is also a shortage of police officers in Silesia (1,700 vacancies) and in the province. Łódź (approx. 900).

Why is this so? Because of lack of money. The head of the Police Headquarters, Superintendent Marek Boroń, emphasizes that the police budget has been underestimated for years, and the funds the force receives do not cover the costs it actually incurs. – This is confirmed by the reports of the Supreme Audit Office. For years, the police have had to shift items in the budget plan and plug holes in order to function. Police officers must have appropriate equipment and conditions to perform their duties. Every day we carry out 15 to 20 thousand interventions. The scale shows how much we use our fleet and equipment, he noted.

The commander added that the police are “in a very difficult moment.”

– We are doing everything to ensure that the state of vacancies does not affect internal security in the country, but there is no denying that the situation requires urgent action – emphasized the Commander-in-Chief.

Main photo source: TVN24 Łódź



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