“There has been a reduction in the number of accidents, between 2015-16 and 2022, by more than 11,000. This means more than 11,000 fewer accidents per year. It means fewer broken legs, broken spines, broken lives. The fact that we manage to ensure as few of these accidents as possible in Poland is a great achievement,” concluded the head of the Polish government.

Poland awarded for road safety

In 2023, we became the winner of the European Transport Safety Council's (ETSC) Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) award for the first time. This is the equivalent of an Oscar for road safety. Poland was recognised for the almost 50 per cent decrease in road fatalities in our country over the last ten years.

“For me, every accident is one accident too many,” stressed Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. “That is why the government is devoting huge resources to road safety. There are new pavements, new pedestrian crossings, new speed bumps in every corner of Poland, district municipal roads of a decent standard and stricter regulations, which have also contributed to road safety, and the best confirmation that this strategy of ours is coherent and that it is a success is the very award we have received - the European award for improving road transport safety.

This is thanks to methodical changes in three areas:

• infrastructure;
• legislation;
• education.

New roads of better quality

We take care of the even development of the road network in our country. Thanks to the National Roads Construction Programme, more than 2,000 km of new roads have been built since 2015. Such investments are also made under the Government Road Construction Fund and the Government Strategic Investment Programme. With the support for both major and local investments, we are increasing the safety of road users. New roads also mean faster commuting times and therefore time saved.

“Even though traffic is getting heavier, there are more and more cars on the roads, we have fewer accidents. This is because we have invested in roads, in traffic lights, in roundabouts, in lanes, in pedestrian crossings, in safety,” concluded Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Effective amendments to the law

Amendments to the law have been successfully implemented in recent years to improve pedestrian and driver safety. Key solutions include:

• zipper merge obligation;
• increased protection of pedestrians in the area of pedestrian crossings;
• the requirement to maintain a safe distance between vehicles;
• a new fine tariff - including tougher penalties for the most serious traffic offences.

Safe school - public awareness campaign

Road safety depends first and foremost on us - the road users. That is why we organise various social campaigns to raise awareness on the road. One of these is the educational campaign “Crocodile Tirk's Safe School”. It is a project aimed at children in pre-school and grades 1-3, as well as their parents, carers, teachers and educators.

The campaign was launched at the end of May 2023 and more than 3 000 pupils have already taken part in the lessons. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki conducted a lesson on road safety with pupils from Public School in Bezrzecze.