Ministry of Infrastructure:
The draft law introducing solutions aimed at improving the safety of road users provides for a uniform speed limit in built-up areas regardless of the time of day, extending pedestrian protection around pedestrian crossings, requiring pedestrians to exercise particular caution, and regulating a safe distance between vehicles on motorways and expressways.
On 24 November 2020, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft amendment to the Road Traffic Act prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the National Road Safety Council.
Head of the ministry Andrzej Adamczyk:
The law introduces a number of solutions aimed at improving the safety of road users, especially pedestrians, who have no chance in a collision with a speeding vehicle. Safety on our roads, including that of vulnerable road users, must improve—it is a priority of the Polish government.
Greater protection for pedestrians around pedestrian crossings
The planned expansion of pedestrian protection around pedestrian crossings will be achieved by imposing additional duties on drivers. Drivers will be required to carefully observe not only the pedestrian crossing but also its surroundings, and to enable pedestrians who are on the crossing or entering it to cross the carriageway safely.
Ministry officials:
Currently, the Road Traffic Act requires a driver approaching a pedestrian crossing to exercise particular caution and give way to a pedestrian on the crossing. However, the obligation for a driver to reduce speed so as not to endanger pedestrians on or entering the crossing follows from the regulations on road signs and signals.
The new solution will require a driver approaching a pedestrian crossing, in addition to exercising particular caution and giving way to a pedestrian on the crossing, to reduce speed so as not to endanger the pedestrian. Drivers will also be required to give way to a pedestrian entering or already on the crossing. (In the proposed amendments, extending the right of way to pedestrians entering a pedestrian crossing does not apply to trams.)
The existing obligation for pedestrians to exercise particular caution when crossing a carriageway or track will also be extended to pedestrians entering a carriageway or track. A pedestrian entering a crossing will be required to exercise particular caution by paying increased attention and adapting their behaviour to changing road conditions and circumstances to an extent that allows them to react sufficiently quickly.
No using phones while crossing the road
Ministry:
The draft law proposes regulations prohibiting pedestrians, while entering or crossing a carriageway or track—including at pedestrian crossings located there—from using mobile phones or other devices that impair proper perception, particularly visual perception, and thus their ability to assess whether it is safe to enter and cross the carriageway or track. This solution will affect the safety of vulnerable road users. It will be introduced by supplementing Article 14 of the Road Traffic Act, which sets out prohibitions applying to pedestrians in road traffic.
No more tailgating
According to police statistics, failing to keep a safe distance between vehicles on expressways and motorways is one of the main causes of accidents, alongside speed inappropriate for traffic conditions, improper overtaking, fatigue and improper lane changes.
Officials: “Keeping too small a gap between vehicles is often the cause of dangerous road incidents. Tailgating—driving a short distance behind the vehicle in front—is commonplace on Polish roads. It is an extremely risky practice, especially on high-speed roads such as motorways and expressways. In an emergency situation requiring immediate action, the driver has no chance to react quickly. When an adequate distance is not maintained, the field of vision is also limited, making it impossible to identify an obstacle ahead of the vehicle in front. Sudden braking by the vehicle ahead forces those behind to brake sharply, often resulting in a pile-up.”
They add:
The draft proposes that on high-speed roads—motorways and expressways—the safe distance between vehicles should be half the current speed: a driver travelling at 100 km/h must drive 50 m behind the vehicle ahead, at 120 km/h—60 m, and at 140 km/h—70 m. Similar solutions have been adopted in many European countries, including Germany.
An exception to the obligation to maintain a safe distance between vehicles on expressways and motorways would apply when a driver is overtaking.
A uniform built-up-area speed limit of 50 km/h during the day and at night
The ministry:
Reducing the speed limit for vehicles in built-up areas at night to 50 km/h is primarily intended to improve pedestrian safety as pedestrians are vulnerable road users. Research analyses show that the difference between 50 and 60 km/h is significant for a vehicle’s braking distance and the potential consequences of road incidents. More than 95% of pedestrians have a chance of surviving an accident when the vehicle’s impact speed is below 30 km/h, while those chances fall sharply when the speed of the vehicle hitting the pedestrian is above 50 km/h.
Poland is currently the only EU country that still allows driving at 60 km/h in built-up areas.
When will the new regulations come into force?
The new regulations will enter into force 14 days after their publication in the Journal of Laws.