Poland introduced amendments to the Cross Border Enforcement which refers to the pursuit of traffic offences committed by drivers in EU Member States. The goal of the Directive which entered into force on 30th of April 2014 is to offer an automated tool for enforcement authorities to pursue and fine the drivers of cars registered in other EU Member States when they commit traffic offences.
According to the European Commission, non-resident drivers account for approximately 5% of the road traffic in the EU. However, 15% of the number of detected speed offences are committed by non-resident drivers. Moreover, according to the Commission document, a foreign-registered car is three times more likely to commit traffic offences than a domestically-registered one.
Eight major road safety related offences are included in the text of the EU Directive: speeding, not using a seatbelt, not stopping at a red traffic light or other mandatory stop signal, drink driving, driving under the influence of drugs, not wearing a safety helmet (for motorcyclists), using a forbidden lane, illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device, while driving. The Directive will be most effective in following up offences which can be detected automatically, such as speeding and running red lights.
A National Contact Point is forming in Poland in order to grant access through the information exchange system to the prosecuting authority, e.g. police services.
Source: European Transport Safety Council
