The first week of December was the deadliest so far this year on Poland's roads. Over three days, 52 people lost their lives and 350 were injured. Figures like that underline Poland's stark record on transport security. In 2011, the country held the dubious title of having the European Union's most dangerous roads, ahead of Greece and Romania.
"Poles don't have the means to buy new cars, so they buy bad quality second-hand vehicles. And over the past 20 years, the number of cars in Poland has spiralled, while the construction of new roads hasn't kept up."
There's plenty of road building going on, but motorways don't even make up 1 percent of the country's transport network. Instead, the bulk of traffic relies on local roads where thousands of trucks criss-cross the country and where overtaking can be hazardous. On top of that, Poland has among the EU's weakest legislation on dangerous driving.
"In line with the legal sliding scale, fines range from about 5 € to 125 €. They haven't risen in Poland for about a decade. Our scale of fines is very driver-friendly."
Over the past year, Poland's police have stepped up their road security campaign. Cutting-edge radars are being posted along the country's roads, notably in cities. The country's traffic police have also bought 29 special vehicles equipped with mobile speed detectors.
"Our job is not to arrest or pursue lawbreakers. We just take the pictures. On a good day, this device can log up to 200 breaches an hour,"
The Polish state reckons it will rake in 400 million € thanks to radars in 2013. But fear of punishment has also had an immediate impact. From January to October, the number of road deaths in Poland fell by 15% compared to the same period in 2011. One habit that is proving harder to change, however, is that of drink-driving. Alcohol is to blame for one road death in eight in Poland.
Answers:
1. b
2. a
3. c
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