Polish Left calls for tougher rules on illegal street races after death of four men

Jul 18, 2023 | Law, Society

MPs from The Left (Lewica), Poland’s second-largest opposition group, have called for tougher punishments for illegal street racing. Their move comes after the death last week of four men in a car that crashed after being recorded driving at dangerously high speeds.

The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday, with CCTV footage released by municipal authorities showing the car spinning off the road after almost hitting a jaywalking pedestrian. It then hit a traffic-light post and street lamp, flipped over and fell off a bridge onto the riverside boulevard below, landing on its roof.

All four young men in the car died as a result. Prosecutors have revealed that the car was being driven by a man named as Patryk P. under Polish privacy law.

He is the son of a Polish reality TV star, Sylwia Peretti, who has in the past spoken about the fact that her son enjoys driving dangerously on roads.

“He has one big flaw,” she said in an interview. “Instead of going on the track to have fun, unfortunately he flies around town, doing what I used to do. And it’s f***ing stupid.”


A website that allows people to review the driving of other road users contains a large number of complaints about the car involved in this weekend’s crash.

State broadcaster TVP has also published footage, taken from Patryk P’s social media, that shows the same car being driven at high speeds, including through red lights.

Just before the crash on Saturday, it is estimated that the car was travelling in excess of 120 km/h (75 mph) on a street where, due to road works, the speed limit was 40 km/h (25 mph), says Rafał Babiński, the prosecutor overseeing the investigation, quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

“After this tragedy, we must finally say: stop illegal night races on the streets of our cities,” said Adrian Zandberg, co-leader of the Together (Razem) party that is part of The Left, at a press conference in Kraków today. “This is a plague that affects many cities in Poland and which the police are unable to control.”

“The police say they don’t have enough legal tools,” he continued. “Organising illegal races should be punished severely, and in the case of repeat offenders, people who drive on city streets at 150, 170 km/h, posing a threat to the lives of others, their cars should simply be confiscated.”

Parliament is currently in summer recess, but Zandberg said that his party will propose new legislation to this effect once it resumes work.

Last weekend, police from Kraków issued 34 fines totalling 16,200 zloty (€3,644) to people involved in illegal car races, reports broadcaster TVN. None were in the city itself, instead taking place in smaller surrounding towns.

In late May, police discovered thousands of people at an illegal night-time rally in a supermarket car park near the city of Poznań in which around 1,000 cars were involved. Nine people who organised the event were arrested.

However, police note that taking part in such events is not illegal in itself, and they can only punish participants for offences such as speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, or having a vehicle that does not comply with requirements.

Main image credit: 112malopolskapl/Facebook

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