The centre would be established at the PKS Bolesławiec depot on Modłowa Street. If there are no schedule changes, students and young people from Bolesławiec, Lwówek and the surrounding area will be able to take their driving licence exam as early as August.
– The proposal to establish an external examination centre in Bolesławiec was put forward last year by Karol Stasik, Chairman of the County Council. This year he renewed the proposal, and a meeting was held between Stanisław Cempura, President of PKS Bolesławiec, and Robert Tarsa, Director of the Voivodeship Road Traffic Centre in Jelenia Góra – Majka Nowak, spokesperson for the County Office, tells us.Majka Nowak, spokesperson for the County Office.
The meeting established that the PKS Bolesławiec depot on Modłowa Street would be suitable for establishing the centre. First and foremost, there is space for a manoeuvring area where part of the exam concerning practical skills would take place, such as moving forward from a standstill on an incline or parallel parking. There are also rooms for a garage, an examination room, a customer service office and administrative and utility facilities. The initially organised site would be leased to WORD Jelenia Góra, which would provide the centre’s equipment, a team of examiners and other necessary staff.
– A decision on establishing an external centre must wait for an amendment to the Road Traffic Act, which may be passed by the Sejm in approximately two or three months. Once the act enters into force, the Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, to whom the WORD centres report, will also have to approve the establishment of a centre in Bolesławiec – says Majka Nowak.
Director Robert Tarsa is making serious preparations to establish an external branch in Bolesławiec. – We certainly need to wait for the amendment before organising the centre. But according to the information I have, this is a formal matter – the director of WORD Jelenia Góra tells us. – I estimate that there will be two or three cars prepared for exams in Bolesławiec. I know that candidates like to take the exam in exactly the same car in which they learned to drive. Driving schools in Bolesławiec have Toyotas, while our centre has Nissans adapted for examinations. If necessary, I will consider renting a Toyota for candidates who prefer that particular car.
The director also reassures those who do not like driving behind a slow learner-driver car in urban traffic. – The establishment of an examination centre in Bolesławiec will certainly not cause traffic jams in the city – says Tarsa. – I will instruct the instructors to enter the city at staggered times, showing consideration for other road users. There will certainly be more driving-school cars in Bolesławiec. However, I do not see a serious problem, especially now that the motorway has freed the city from transit traffic.
Karol Stasik, the initiator of the idea to establish an examination centre in the city, believes that it will make exams more accessible and reduce the personal expenses candidates incur when travelling to other centres. – The establishment of a WORD examination centre in Bolesławiec – says Karol Stasik – should be assessed not only in terms of convenience or the possibility of better preparing for the practical exam in the city. It is obvious that it is better to take the exam where one has completed the greatest number of driving hours with an instructor. Equally important, if not more so, is improving access to exams for a substantial group of residents of Bolesławiec and the surrounding area. I suspect that this will help increase the professional activity of the local population, as well as shorten the waiting time for an exam, which often takes place later than the 30 days after completing training at a driving school required by law. Shortening this period will also increase the savings of prospective drivers, who will not have to purchase additional lessons before the exam merely to refresh their knowledge and skills.
(information: Majka Nowak/Grażyna Hanaf)