All Saints’ Day: 25 killed in Poland Road Accidents

Polish police has disclosed that despite the country’s prime minister’s call for road safety before the All Saints’ Day, 25 people were killed in 268 road accidents over the long weekend around the holiday.

according to a report released by the Polish police on Monday.

Just prior to the weekend when most Poles travelled across the country to join family and visit cemeteries where their dead are buried, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki issued an appeal to Poles via his Facebook page.

“This is a special time, when we realize how very valuable our lives are. Let’s remember that when we get behind the driver’s wheel,” Morawiecki said in this two-minute speech.

“We have the right to feel safe, both at home and outside it. That is why we will propose legislative changes and support the authorities in charge,” said the prime minister.

In 2018, according to Morawiecki, 50 people died and 500 were wounded in 408 accidents taking place on Polish roads during the All Saint’s weekend. Morwiecki appealed to Poles to do better this year.

The prime minister’s appeal comes after weeks of an outrage in Polish society over high fatality rates on Polish roads, and especially among pedestrians.

On Oct. 20, a 33-year-old father was killed by a speeding car in the Warsaw neighborhood of Bielany, while crossing the street on the pedestrian crossing together with his wife and baby.

The following day, locals and city activists organized a protest in the area where the man was killed, asking for improved safety on Polish roads.

Poland’s legislation does not currently give priority to pedestrians at crossings. An attempt to change the law earlier this year to introduce priority for pedestrians was scrapped.

In his online speech, Morawiecki promised increased funds for infrastructure, tougher penalties for breaking traffic rules and lower speed limits around schools.

According to data from the Polish police’s Road Transport Office, in 2018, 2,838 people died and 37,000 people were wounded in traffic accidents in the country.