During a 2014 survey of attitudes towards road safety, commissioned by the National Road Safety Council, 29 percent of respondents said that most of their friends sometimes drive after drinking alcohol. As many as 12 percent of respondents disagree that driving after drinking alcohol significantly increases the risk of accidents! Meanwhile, statistics clearly show that this is a very serious problem – in 2014, 256 people were killed by drunk drivers (11.7 percent of all those killed in road accidents), and more than 2,300 were injured.
“There have already been spots aimed at drivers. This time, we decided to draw the attention of people around drivers to the problem – those who may witness an attempt to drive after drinking alcohol. Find your own way to stop a drunk driver!” say representatives of the National Road Safety Council.
Severe and Inevitable Penalties for Drunk Drivers
By stopping a drunk driver, you can save not only their life, but also the lives of other road users. What is more, you can protect them from severe sanctions. On 18 May this year, penalties for driving after drinking alcohol and for causing an accident while under its influence were tightened. The new regulations are already producing measurable results. From 18 May this year to 30 September this year, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of road accidents caused by intoxicated drivers fell by more than 30 percent, while the number of fatalities in these accidents fell by more than 35 percent.
The new regulations increased both the minimum and maximum periods for which a driving ban may be imposed – from one to three years and from 10 to 15 years. Repeat offenders have their driving licences revoked for life. Mandatory financial penalties were also introduced for drivers operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Regardless of the sentence imposed, the court must impose a penalty of PLN 5,000 on a person caught driving under the influence of alcohol for the first time, and at least PLN 10,000 on repeat offenders. These payments go to the Fund for Assistance to Victims and Post-Penitentiary Assistance. A new measure, the alcohol interlock, has also been introduced into the Polish legal system. After a driving ban has been in force for at least 10 years, the court may modify the previously imposed ban and allow the offender to drive, but only vehicles equipped with an interlock. In addition, the court judgment, including the offender’s first and last name, is made public.
Krajowa Rada Bezpieczeństwa Ruchu Drogowego/ii