Our Reader described the matter as follows:

The sound of a horn at the intersection of Żwirki i Wigury Street and the one-way access roads to the rear of the blocks on Asnyka Street is a frequent occurrence. This is all because vehicles block passage from the “upper” section to the “lower” section. The regulations do not allow drivers to enter an intersection when they cannot leave it, precisely so as not to block other vehicles. […] On March 21, just before 8:00 a.m., a similar situation occurred once again, but this time a police traffic paddle was unusually brought into play. This is what happened:

A silver BMW (registration number unknown) tried to drive from the aforementioned upper section (exiting past a yield sign) to the lower section. However, a sports car, apparently an A8 quattro model Audi, stood in its way. Its color was dark silver-gray (number unknown).

When the horn sounded from the BMW (I should point out that part of it was already on the main road), the window of the Audi came down and the following words were heard: why did you drive in when there is no room? A second later, a hand waving a police traffic paddle appeared at the Audi’s door window, and the words “get out of here” could be heard.
The BMW driver obediently reversed, the traffic light turned green a moment later, and the cars went their separate ways.

The man added:

After analyzing the situation, several questions arose. The first is: how should drivers react in such situations? Should waving a traffic paddle, without identifying oneself and giving the official rank of a person in civilian clothes driving an unmarked car that is not using visual or audible signals, provoke any reaction at all? And what if the paddle is being used by someone without such authority?
The second question is: if the incident described above really did involve a police officer, was his reaction not an abuse, an overstepping of authority, when he himself had clearly violated the regulations by blocking the intersection? Are addressing drivers informally and saying “get out of here” standard police practice when dealing with drivers intimidated by a traffic paddle?

We asked the Bolesławiec police for comment. District Commander junior inspector Dariusz Borski:

[...] The Traffic Division of the District Police Headquarters in Bolesławiec informs us that the roads running behind the residential buildings and leading to Żwirki i Wigury Street provide access to properties and have the status of internal roads. Under the Road Traffic Act, when leaving an internal road, a driver joins traffic and therefore must yield to others.

In the situation indicated, the BMW driver was obliged to yield to vehicles traveling along Żwirki i Wigury Street, meaning that using the horn constituted an offense under Article 29(2)(1) of the Road Traffic Act.

Pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Road Traffic Act, the legislature clearly identifies the entities authorized to issue instructions and signals to road users, while the methods for stopping and inspecting vehicles are set out in separate regulations. If there is any uncertainty as to whether we are dealing with a person authorized to issue traffic instructions and signals, one should immediately call the Police emergency number to report the situation on the road. The duty officer will verify the authority of the person using the disk intended for stopping vehicles.

[...] I would also like to inform you that the Bolesławiec police fleet does not include the make of vehicle indicated in the report. In addition, [...] we took steps to verify whether the vehicle in question could have been a private car belonging to an officer; the result of the checks was negative.

D. Borski added: “A disk for stopping vehicles, colloquially called a traffic paddle, is an item available to the general public and is used by various services to issue instructions to road users.”

What do you think? Have you ever experienced a similar situation?