Cars will be confiscated from drink drivers under new rules approved by Poland’s parliament and awaiting the president’s signature.
Anyone caught with 0.15% of alcohol in their blood or anyone who causes an accident with at least 0.05% of alcohol in their blood will have their vehicle transferred to the ownership of the state. Under Polish law, the drink-driving limit is 0.02% of alcohol in the blood.
If a drink driver’s car is destroyed in an accident, or if it does not belong to them, they will have to pay a fine equivalent to the value of the vehicle.
The law provides for an exception for professional drivers driving an employer’s vehicle. In their case, the court will order a fine of at least 5,000 zloty payable to the Fund for Victims’ Aid and Post-Penitentiary Aid. Non-mechanical vehicles, for example bicycles, will not be confiscated either.
Konfiskata samochodów pijanym kierowcom w Polsce ostatecznie przegłosowana. Wejdzie w życie w listopadzie 2023
— Janusz Piechociński (@Piechocinski) November 23, 2022
The new measures are among a number of recent steps taken to improve safety in Poland, which has one of the EU’s highest rates of road deaths.
However, the proposal, which was put forward by the justice ministry, has been criticised by the opposition, which argued that it focused entirely on repressive measures rather than other forms of punishment and that it removed from judges the ability to choose a punishment appropriate to the case.
The upper house of parliament, the Senate, where the opposition has a majority, rejected bill. But that decision was overturned by the government’s majority in the more powerful lower-house Sejm. If signed by President Andrzej Duda, a government ally, it will enter into force within three months.
Poland has one of the EU’s strictest drink-drive limits, with most countries allowing up to 0.05% of alcohol in the blood. Four countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia – have an absolute ban on alcohol for drivers.
Police data show that the number of accidents in Poland involving drunk road users (drivers, cyclists and pedestrians), as well as the number of road accidents overall, has been gradually decreasing in recent years.
In 2021, road users under the influence of alcohol were involved in 2,488 road accidents (10.9% of total accidents), 331 people were killed (14.7% of total fatalities), and 2,805 people were injured (10.6% of the total number of injured), according to the police data.
By comparison, in 2012, traffic participants under the influence of alcohol were involved in 4,467 road accidents (12.1%% of total accidents), 584 people were killed (16.4% of total fatalities), and 5,305 people were injured (11.6% of the total number of injured).
Number of traffic accidents involving road users under the influence of alcohol in 2012-2021 (source: Polish police)
Meanwhile, a 2021 report by the European Commission found that the percentage of people with alcohol concentration levels above the legal limit among randomly checked drivers in Poland in 2019 was one of the lowest in the 12 European countries surveyed and significantly lower than in 2010.
Source: European Commission, Prevention of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs
Nevertheless, in recent years, Polish society has been shaken by high-profile accidents involving drink drivers, which have led to calls for tougher laws, including a proposal to make drink drivers pay compensation to families of victims.
A report by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) found that in 2019 Poland lead the EU in terms of the proportion of fatal accidents, with 9.6 death per 100 accidents.
The authority also pointed out that the number of drivers under the influence of drugs, which is not included in the police and European Commission statistics, has increased more than fivefold since 2011.
Main photo credit: energepic.com / Pexels.com
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
