Some changes to the way police officers conduct inspections will come into force as early as November 7. As reported by the auto-świat.pl website:
Under the new regulation, police officers may use places where vehicles are prohibited from stopping. This does not mean proverbial bushes, but, for example, areas excluded from traffic and covered by no-stopping restrictions. In practice, these include shoulders alongside a solid line, pavements, or so-called excluded areas marked with an appropriate road marking. Bus bays will also be included (outside bus operating hours). The regulation also provides appropriate authorization for other services, namely the Road Transport Inspection, the Customs and Tax Service, the Environmental Protection Inspection, and the Border Guard.
A police officer will not have to identify themselves before an inspection. They will do so at the request of the person being inspected. The changes also concern situations in which the person being inspected may enter a police car, namely:
An inspection inside a police car may take place in proceedings concerning administrative violations, offenses, and crimes (previously, the term “procedural activities” was used).
We may also enter a police car when, for example, due to difficult weather conditions (rain, snow, strong wind, etc.), it is easier to use a payment terminal in the cabin to pay a fine. In addition, the police car will provide shelter for people in situations posing a threat to their life or health (for example, a pedestrian on a motorway or expressway). The initiators requested the legalization of admitting and transporting a person to a safe place (for example, to leave the motorway at the nearest exit).
During roadside inspections, police officers may be accompanied by representatives of other services: environmental inspectors, road transport inspectors, Border Guard officers, and Customs and Tax Service officers. The latter will be granted the right to retain a vehicle registration certificate.
From January 2020, the police will check and record the odometer reading (the vehicle’s mileage). The data will be transferred to the CEPIK system (the Central Register of Vehicles and Drivers).