Poland
Five years after Poland Joined the European Union, the country is still undergoing large scale economic and social changes. Economic growth over the past decade and increased trade have led to a rapid increase in motorisation rates and traffic.
As a result, road crash death and injury rates are also much higher than the EU average. To address this challenge, GRSP in Poland brings together a wide range of partners and members from all sectors on wide range of projects and programmes.
Road Safety in PolandProjects |
Road safety in Poland at a glance
Though Poland has undergone rapid motorization in the last decade, concerted efforts of government, civil society and the private sector has led to considerable progress, with the number of road traffic fatalities decreasing by 1/3 in the last decade. In 2006, for example, there were 46,876 crashes resulting in injuries (3,7% less fewer in 2005).
Still, Poland’s road crash statistics are high compared to the rest of Europe as road crashes continue to take a huge toll on Polish society and on the economy. Annual costs of road crashes are estimated at PLN 30 billion.
In recent years, the yearly number of road deaths has now stabilized at roughly 5,500 per year in recent years. This means the European Union’s target of a 50 percent reduction by 2010 is gravely endangered.
With roughly 38,116,000 inhabitants and 383,000 km of road, 662 km of highways and 19.5 million of vehicles (383 vehicles per 1.000 inhabitants), Poland experiences 49,500 road crashes per year.
Current statistics show an average of 5,582 persons killed and 63,000 persons injured year. That translates to roughly 15 persons killed per 100,000 inhabitants (11 persons killed per 100 road crashes).
According to the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, of those fatalities,
- Roughly 75 percent of those fatalities are male. 24 percent are female.
- Roughly 38 percent of the fatalities pedestrians.
- 30 percent are drivers of four-wheel vehicles.
- 21 percent are passengers in four-wheeled vehicles.
- Nine percent are cyclists.
- Five percent are riders of two- or three-wheel vehicles.
The problem is exacerbated by the relatively poor condition of Poland’s road inf.rastructure, insufficient protection of vulnerable road users, high rates of speeding and alcohol use, and insufficient use of protective devices.
Fore more information, please see the following resources:
Presentation by Beata Bublewicz, Parliamentarian and member of Parliamentary Road Safety Committee
GRSP in Poland
Projects archive
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Road Systems Management
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Safer Roads
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Safer Roads Users
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Dissemination
Road safety coordination in Poland
Projects
Safer Roads Users
Pilot project: “You’ve been drinking? Don’t drive!”
Project Goals- Reduce drinking and driving and drink-drive crashes;
- Strengthen coordination of a dedicated and multi-year drink-drive prevention programme;
- Strengthen enforcement of drink-drive laws;
- Increase community participation in drink-drive prevention;
- Raise awareness about the risks of drinking and driving;
- Pilot an approach based on the drink drive manual that could be duplicated by other cities in Poland.
Project Components
- Roadside breath tests and public-opinion surveys;
- Data analysis to determine scope of the problem;
- Workshop to develop a multi-year drink-drive prevention action plan for Olsztyn;
- Targeted public education campaign;
- Follow-up analysis to assess project effectiveness in regards to the project goals.
Project Impact- A multi-sector and multidisciplinary drink drive prevention working group was established under the patronage of the City Mayor.
- Breath tests increased by 284% in 2008 in comparison to 2007.
- 22-percent reduction in drink-drive crashes between 2007 and 2008 vs a national increase of 3 percent in the same period.
- National stakeholders called for the project to be scaled-up.
- Olsztyn Drink Drive case study
- Drinking and driving good practice manual page
- 2009 Don’t Drink and Drive project poster
- GRSP Poland website
Working across sectors
National Actors: NRSC, National Traffic Police, Center for the Prevention of Alcohol Related Harm, the Polish Road Safety Partnership, with General Motors Poland, Michelin Poland and ICAP.
Local Actors: City government with Olsztyn traffic police, regional road safetycouncil (WORD Olsztyn), Safe Driver Foundation, Scouts and the university with Orlen, Shell, BP and StatOil petrol stations.
Links and downloads:
“The goal of the “Piles? Nie jedz” campaign is to make people realize the great and irreversible consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol.
I’m sure that the campaign, and steps prepared on the basis of detailed research, will achieve great success.
– Andrzej Grzegorczyk, Director Secretary of National Road Safety Council
Public Awareness Campaign: “Speed limits save lives”
Speeding is one of the leading contributory factors to road crashes and injury severity in Poland. Together with the National Road Safety Council and the General Headquarters of the Police, the Partnership launched the public-awareness campaign “Speed limits save lives.” Covering the entire country, the intensive public awareness campaign was shown on cinemas, television, internet, radio,outdoor media and point-of-sale displays.
In September 2008, GRSP Poland, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) and the Polish National Police organized a training session in Warsaw to show the negative impact of excessive speed on road safety.
Safer Vehicles
Fleet Safety: Continuation of the Safe Fleet programme
With commercial traffic increasing dramatically in recent decades, fleet safety has long been a central part of GRSP Poland’s programme. That programme continues with diverse activities and projects, ranging from safe-fleet management guidelines, seminars and round-tables for transport companies, trainings for journalists, among other efforts.
In 2008, for example, GRSP Poland helped organize round table discussions on four occasions to draw attention to issues of road safety importance in Poland and identify solutions, also incorporating international good practice.
Safe Fleet Programme
The partnership continued its “Safe Fleet” programme, launched in 2005 to improve the safety management standards of companies with vehicle fleets, including company cars.
The programme helps companies that are members of the partnership to understand the impact of road crashes and incidents on their business and the health and safety of their employees. It also offers trainings and expertise to external companies.
Road Transport Safety Roundtable
GRSP in Poland helped organise a Road Transport Safety Round Table in February in the seat of the World Bank in Warsaw. The keynote discussion was “How to ensure safety without limiting competitiveness?”
The debate brought together representatives of all relevant sectors including infrastructure, transport, road safety experts, transport companies, trade journalists, academics and others having influence on the country’s transport policy.
The first high-level "Road Safety Round Table" dedicated to the issue of safer heavy goods transport in Poland, the discussion focused on the implementation of UN ECE regulation 104 on reflective markings for heavy and long vehicles.
The GRSP Poland roundtable drew an impressive list of participants to Warsaw, including: representatives of Ministry of Infrastructure, National Road Safety Council,General Director for National Roads and Motorways, Main Inspectorate of Road Transport, Motor Transport Institute, other companies and media.
Road Safety Forum
In June 2008, the Partnership organised the Second Road Safety Forum in Warsaw focusing on improving the quality of driver training. Participants included representatives of government and local administration, police, driver training schools and motor–sports associations.
Among other topics, the speakers discussed whether Poland should have a central programme of driver training, and they debated questions such as: “How should driving instructors be recruited?” and “How to provide conditions for proper training of professional drivers?”
The panel also discussed strengths or weaknesses of new governmental regulation related to defense driving training system for new professional drivers.
Seminar: Safe Fleets – A systems approach
GRSP Poland organised a fleet safety seminar on December 8, 2008 entitled “Safe Fleets – a systems approach”. The seminar targeted fleet and safety managers and covered diverse fleet safety management issues.
The seminar is part of the Partnership’s ongoing fleet safety programme, which was launched in 2006.
Participants represented by GRSP Poland members and non-members. The programme was prepared and delivered by the GRSP Poland fleet safety team including Ms. Elzbieta Leszko (Total) – team leader, Mr. Sylwester Pawlowski (Save Driver Foundation), Mr. Ireneusz Tyminski (KBC Autolease), and Mr. Jaroslaw Giemza (GRSP PL Managing Director).
Other fleet safety management links in Poland:
• The Polish Road Safety Partnership launches handbooks on fleet safety (08-10-2007)
Safe Fleet Guidebook
The “Safe Fleet” working group produced the second edition of the Safe Fleet Guidebook, which now consists of two targeted handbooks: a Manager’s Guidebook, and a Driver’s Guidebook.
The Guidebooks present a systematic approach to improving work-related road safety, based on international and local good practice. The Managers Guidebook addresses issues including road crash risks and costs to a company, road safety policies, management and monitoring systems, vehicles suited for purpose, safety equipment, vehicle condition, internal educational activities and periodical and relevant driver training. The Driver’s Guidebook addresses issues such as the principles of safe driving, proper equipment and use of the car, procedures to be applied in case of emergency, and basic road regulations.
All members of the Partnership are obliged to implement the recommendations in their own organisations or companies. In 2008, an external audit began that includes a review of the fleet safety policies of members and monitoring of their road traffic incidents.