In the last two years, significant changes have been introduced in the Polish road traffic law. In the new report “Safety in road traffic” by the Institute of Urban and Regional Development IRMiR and the Motor Transport Institute, their first effects were analysed. What does the document say?
The “Road Safety” report focuses primarily on pedestrians as the group most at risk of death or loss of health as a result of a road accident. In 2019-21, pedestrians accounted for more than half (51%) of those seriously injured in accidents in cities and nearly a third of their fatalities (30%).
HAVE CHANGES IN THE REGULATIONS HELPED PEDESTRIANS?
In the last two years, three important and widely discussed changes have taken place on Polish roads: the speed limit in the built-up area was unified to 50 km/h (previously it was possible to drive 10 km/h faster at night), the priority of pedestrians when entering crosswalks was introduced and fines for traffic offences increased.
While in the case of the last of these changes it is still too early to draw far-reaching conclusions, in the case of the first two changes after a year seem to be statistically significant. And so, during the night hours in cities in the first year of the lower speed limit being in force, a decrease in the number of fatalities by as much as 46.8% was observed. At the same time, the number of accidents decreased by 26% and the number of injuries by 23%. Therefore, this change should be assessed positively – after all, nearly half of the fatal accidents were prevented!
However, the statistics look a bit different after a year of the priority of pedestrians when entering the crossings. The number of fatalities in accidents on pedestrian crossings increased by 14%, and the number of accidents and injuries – by as much as 16%. So we are dealing here with a clear increase. What is a cause of it? Some will say that it is the lack of caution of pedestrians who are less careful when entering the crossing, knowing that they have priority. Others will say that drivers whose habits do not keep up with changes in the regulations are to blame. Regardless of the reason – so far this change has not brought improvement in pedestrian safety, and even its deterioration. However, it may take time for both sides to get used to the new situation.
STATISTICS CAN BE CONFUSING
Benjamin Disraeli once said that there are three kinds of lies: lies, terrible lies, and statistics. Even if we consider it an exaggeration, it is worth paying attention to the reservations that the authors of the report raise regarding the data on road accidents collected in Poland. In nearly 3/4 of the accidents, the place of the accident is described as a “roadway”, which is such a general category that it makes it difficult to draw any conclusions about particularly dangerous places.
Police statistics also focus on the behaviour of the perpetrators of the accident – there is no information about what the other participants of the incident were doing. The injuries of the victims are not classified according to the MAIS scale used in international databases and recommended by the European Commission. In practice, the only imperfect way to compare the severity of injuries suffered by pedestrians in accidents is to compare the numbers of injured and fatalities, which limits the usefulness of the data.
We observe with interest changes in the road traffic law and their effects on the safety of both pedestrians and other road users. We hope that the next reports will show more pronounced decreases in the number of victims. What we can do on our part is to constantly ensure that our drivers are properly prepared, rested and always drive efficient cars. And you can be sure we do!
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