3571 people died on the Polish roads in 2012. On average, twice as many people die in 100 road accidents in Poland as in other EU countries. How to stop this death wave? During a special experts panel organised by NIK it its Warsaw headquarters, NIK inspectors discussed that issue together with representatives of the government, the media and the world of science. The Supreme Audit Office is starting a complex audit concerning road traffic safety in Poland.
Reportage from the experts panel at NIK
Road traffic safety I
In the planned audit NIK will check:
- if the Police have sufficient resources (required number of policemen, properly trained and engaged in the control of road traffic) and tools (proper equipment, e.g. car video recorders, mobile speed cameras) that would make it possible to effectively reduce threats on the road?
- where, when and for what reasons policemen resolve to use car video recorders or speed cameras (fixed or mobile)?
- where and for what reasons the Road Transport Inspection installs speed cameras? Are these places crucial for improving road traffic safety? Have there been any accidents before? Are the places where speed cameras had been installed several years ago really safer now in terms of road traffic?
- where and for what reasons local governments decided to set up speed cameras? Were those particularly dangerous places? Did the number of car crashes, accidents or casualties fall in the regions where municipal speed cameras had been installed?
- how do road administrators care about safety on the roads, especially in terms of road investments (the number of fatal accidents globally and Poland-wide goes down in the places where most of the traffic takes place on dual carriageways - motorways and express roads), organisation of traffic (e.g. the number of accidents is smaller on junctions with separate traffic lights for the drivers turning left) and road marking?
- and the key thing: Is there a coherent system of public institutions in Poland to guarantee structured and long-term measures supporting road traffic safety? Has this system been laid out in the government strategies?
Statement of Vice-President of NIK Marian Cichosz
Road traffic safety II
Each activity designed to increase road traffic safety saves human lives. According to some forecasts, another 40 thousand people will die on the Polish roads by 2020. This is one of the reasons why the scale of the audit which is just starting is as large as never before in the history of NIK. Two departments and all regional branches will be involved in the audit works at the same time. The report including comprehensive information on the actions taken by the Police and public administration to improve road safety will be ready before the end of this year.
