Driving in Poland

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,553
Location
Wargrave, UK
So, for the last week and a bit, I've been driving all over Poland. Interesting place to drive.

First things first. People who complain about the state of British roads should try driving in Poland for a while. Yes, the freeways are billiard table smooth but even the A roads are in a shocking state of repair. B roads can have pot-holes that would swallow your car with no warning at all.

I spent a fair bit of time today driving from Warsaw to Lubin. Some of the road is lovely new freeway but a lot of it is essentially a normal A road. Now, not really an issue you might think but how the rules work is utterly mental. There is a sort of a half-lane to the right of the main carridgeway that people are supposed to move in to to allow faster vehicles to overtake. What usually happens though is that people overtake in to oncoming traffic, forcing them to swerve in to this half-lane to not crash. It's utterly mental and terrifying in equal measure.

Also, today we were driving through a district of Warsaw when the road we were on just stopped with no warning and turned in to a dirt track with pot-holes so big we grounded the car several times. The locals didn't seem to care though and just smashed their way along at 50kph.

Good points:
Loads of services and restaurants at the roadside
Helpful locals who give good directions
Good signposting

Bad points:
Awful state of repair
Traffic rules are bonkers (give way to the left at roundabouts but give way to the right at crossroads)
People drive like maniacs
2 second rule? Ha! 2 micro-second rule more like

My main takeaway was the state of the roads. I will never complain about our UK roads again.
 
Rilot said:
My main takeaway was the state of the roads. I will never complain about our UK roads again.
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I found the same in the North Eastern states of the US and Ontario earlier in the year. Freeways with generally poor surfaces anyway, add to that massive potholes in them too and it's quite shocking. In cities and on smaller roads it was just as bad if not worse.

Whilst we may have crowded roads in England, the surface of the roads is just so much better, even the 'bad' ones!


Bulgaria seemed to be similar to what you say about surfaces and crazy drivers too....and I was only ever a passenger and we only drove in town. :D
 
Was on a bus in Vietnam a few years ago, single lane. We went to overtake a slower car, then a 4x4 went to overtake us whilst we were overtaking. The opposite direction traffic was off the road into the verge.. was crazy but nobody cared.
 
The roads in the UK are IMHO the best I have driven on - and I've driven in much of Europe, North America and Australia. We really don't realise how good we have it with respect to half decent surfaces, sensible signage and properly designed junctions etc.
 
Did you take take your S2K there Rilot?

I drove in Poland in Sept last year myself (hire car) and the furthest journey we made would probably have been between Kraków and Zakopane. To be quite honest I found their state of road no worse than here in Scotland. Their "A" roads were fine - granted the main city centre roads could be classed as "a bit tight" when it comes to passing but that shouldn't really worry the average driver with a couple of years experience under their belt. Like you I found the locals very willing to help and offer assistance even if only to get the chance to practice their English language skills. And yeah the two second rule should be taken with a big pinch of salt :p

If you're looking for a challenge - try driving in Italy! Within an hour of landing there I was almost certain we were going to die on their motorway between Naples and Sorrento :eek:
 
I had a similar experience in Lithuania. One minute your on a nice road then the next minute your on a dirt path.

I loved driving there. I guess it is the closest feeling to driving in England during the late 70's/early 80's before the roads got clogged up with lorries etc. You can drive pretty much anywhere 60mph (road quality permitting) and over take with ease.
 
Sonea Fifer said:
Did you take take your S2K there Rilot?
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Nah. We were using the mother-in-law's Opel Astra 1.4. A hateful little car but hey, it moves and has seats so not really complaining.

When we go for Christmas we'll be driving from the UK in the CR-V. Should be interesting in the snow but at least we will have 4 wheel drive.
 
Rilot said:
My main takeaway was the state of the roads. I will never complain about our UK roads again.
Click to expand...

It all depends on where you are TBH. Last week I was 200 miles away in deepest darkest Cornwall. Roads down there were a million times better than those up here in Bath/Somerset. And then driving back home you reached a point where they just degraded again to a pothole ridden mess. Guess that down in Cornwall they must either have better weather, less traffic, or a council that actually cares.
 
Nahm drive along some of Brighton's roads!

Our council are trying their very best to make the city car-less, so investment in roads is nill.

The cyclists and busses on the other hand have their roads resurfaced all the time.
 
The main thing that bothers me about UK roads is how everything on them is done with the attitude of making it as cheap as possible in the short term.

Heaven forbid we should spend money resurfacing a road now rather than a lot more in the long term patching it up only to have the repair jobs break up after a few months anyway.
 
Tute said:
The main thing that bothers me about UK roads is how everything on them is done with the attitude of making it as cheap as possible in the short term.

Heaven forbid we should spend money resurfacing a road now rather than a lot more in the long term patching it up only to have the repair jobs break up after a few months anyway.
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They changed the focus from paying extra for top quality and not having to maintain it for aeons to cheap stuff and high maintenance - keeps blokes in jobs - apparently.

I swear they use the M42 at night for Cone training purposes !

Oh..Shedload of more roadworks coming up as highways are now implementing "highWeigh in motion sensors

(Just more crap gleaned from the (compulsory) pathetic CPC course)
 
Sounds like Iran. The main highways and A roads are huge multilane smooth roads. No traffic lights just tunnels and flyovers. Many pedestrian crossings in big cities are escalators over the road in plastic tubes. The local roads are pretty terrible and side roads largely unadopted unlit filth.

Iran-tehran-road-building.jpg
 
Outcast said:
They changed the focus from paying extra for top quality and not having to maintain it for aeons to cheap stuff and high maintenance - keeps blokes in jobs - apparently.

I swear they use the M42 at night for Cone training purposes !

Oh..Shedload of more roadworks coming up as highways are now implementing "highWeigh in motion sensors

(Just more crap gleaned from the (compulsory) pathetic CPC course)
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Lol I would agree with that. Same for most of the M1 late at night.
 
Biggest problem in PL is the other drivers. They'll attempt to overtake you at a blind corner on a dirt track.

Was no snow this Christmas really, so you might be OK next year. I'll race you there ;]
 
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