There were 96 road accidents on roads across Poland during the Christmas period, in which 8 people died and 114 were injured. Police officers stopped 580 intoxicated drivers and 66 people had their driving licence revoked for speeding above 50 km/h in a built-up area.

From Friday to Tuesday, an average of 3,500 traffic policemen worked on the roads daily. The intensified actions on the roads were carried out mainly out of concern for the safety of road traffic participants. The officers controlled speed, sobriety, as well as the use of seat belts and the way children were transported.

Statistics from the Police Headquarters show that 41 accidents occurred on Christmas Eve. Two people died and 47 were injured. A further 21 accidents were recorded by police officers on Christmas Day, with one person killed and 24 injured. Over the two days, police officers stopped 382 drivers for driving after drinking alcohol.

Two people who died on Christmas Eve were victims of hit-and-runs. In Olecko (Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship), an 81-year-old woman was killed. The elderly woman was crossing the road outside a pedestrian crossing. She was hit by an oncoming car. She was taken unconscious by ambulance to a hospital in Ełk but she died on the way.

Another fatal hit-and-run accident occurred in the Podlaskie Voivodeship on national road 8 near the village of Kolnica. A 78-year-old cyclist was killed in the accident. The man was most probably leaving a sub-road and did not yield the right of way to a lorry driver travelling from Białystok towards Augustów.

The dangerous incident occurred on Christmas Eve in Piastów near Warsaw, where a drunk (over 2 promile of alcohol in blood) man travelling with his six-year-old daughter drove into a lamppost. The man was apprehended and released home after the necessary measures were taken. Fortunately, neither the father nor his 6-year-old daughter was hurt.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński