Over the last few days the news has been full of stories that Poland’s supreme administrative court (naczelny sąd administracyjny) ruled on the 27th of January 2010 that the minister of transport has lawful permission to refuse the registration of right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles.
If you have read the story and comments on my earlier blog post about English Cars in Poland you will know that until now it has been possible (although difficult) to register a RHD vehicle if the minister of transport gives permission.
This is against the European Union directives on free movement of goods which is why the EU reminded Poland in October 2009 that refusing to register RHD vehicles is against EU law and demanded a change in Poland’s regulations.
This new ruling by the supreme court is a result of Grzegorz Dorobek attempting to register his RHD Vauxhall Vectra and getting denied by his local authorities in June 2008. He took the matter to court from where it escalated. The voivodeship court in Kielce (Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny w Kielcach) ruled in April 2009 that “the positioning of the driver on the right-hand side has a negative effect on road safety” and that improving safety should be a fundamental target in a given country, therefore EU laws have no foundation to demand registration of this type of vehicle. This decision was upheld by the supreme court.
Dorobek’s lawyer argued that Poland’s current position is confusing given that some RHD vehicles are given permission and some aren’t. After the ruling Dorobek said he would consider taking the matter further to the EU.
to be honest i can see the point in the refusal. it surely is more difficult and more dangerous to drive a rhd in right hand side traffic. some exemptions might be made for classic cars etc but the general rule seems fair. who would want to drive a rhd on a daily basis anyway? it is simply not convenient. a classic car owner or a foreigner visiting should not have a problem though.
dorobek must have too much time and money on his hand, otherwise he would spend the resources on getting an lhd, which is the proper way to drive anyway, despite what clarkson says.
I can see the argument for both sides, but if it is so dangerous then why can LHDs be registered in the UK without a problem, and why can RHDs be registered in France and other EU countries?
I suspect Dorobek is either a car importer or was given free legal assistance for his test case – Polish car importers could make a lot of money by exporting UK cars to Poland if they were allowed.
I registered my UK van in Denmark when i worked there, that was no problem and used my Polish car in the UK with no real drama, I prefer to drive on the side of the car that is normal in the country I am in, but I don’t find it a difficult exercise. I like driving in Poland, but I probably wouldn’t want to drive a RHD car here, I find that the style is is much quicker with late changes of mind and it that case the odds against you missing something must be a little higher than say a country like Denmark. I cannot see any enjoyment in trundling around in a RHD motor here, my wife and me never considered to bring out UK car when we moved.