Thursday’s decision of the Seym on so-called towing, rejecting all the amendments of the Senate, means permission to drive a car without third party insurance contract. Seym dropped practically all the sanctions for the lack of policy, which – let us remind – is obligatory in Poland. The law states a penalty of 50 zl for a driver who does not carry an acknowledgment of the policy. If the vehicle is uninsured, UFG imposes a penalty on the driver.
Collection of these penalties shall not exceed 50 percent. At the same time the new law does not specify the shape of the most important issues – uninsured vehicles off the road. The Parliament assumed that the police will be able to constantly check in an electronic database whether the vehicle is insured. Meanwhile, PIU repeatedly stressed that it is unmanagable, because the police does not have access to the CEPiK database online.
PIU has been trying for several months to strive for an amendment that would make a vehicle driver, who does not have evidence of civil liability insurance contract with him/her, be taken off the road by the police. The best solution would be to retain registration documents. The Association agreed with the arguments of parliament that towing of the car is too inconvenient penalty for the driver. Seym, however, stated that no sanctions are necessary. What is the risk? Currently in Poland there are about 200 thousand uninsured vehicles. It can be expected that these statistics will change to the detriment shortly after the adoption of the new shape of regulations. The driver, who drives unisured vehicle and causes an accident, incurs himself/herself enormous costs. Car repair, rehabilitation and treatment of the victim or even a lifetime pension to the victim – for all that the driver will have to pay from his/her own pocket. Therefore, Seym’s Thursday’s decision will cause some drivers – especially young and inexperienced – to pay for their mistakes for the whole life. You can protect yourself againt such scenario in only one way – by purchasing MTPL.
The amendment project voted by the Parliament at the same time is contrary to the existing legal order mandatory in most EU countries, where the regulations concerning compulsory insurance of motor vehicles are strict. For a long time many countries have already had laws enabling confiscation of uninsured vehicles or their temporary retention as well as keteping the vehicle’s plates and the car’s documents. Poland goes agains this trend, the Parliament contributes to a safety reduction in on Polish roads.
