Couple of times, on my blog, I mentioned that some of us - Polish emigrants - have inferiority complex typical for emigrants, and it is usually expressed in complains. Since I came to Ireland I have been listening to Polish drivers complaining on Irish ones. In fact Irish drivers are not the best in the world, and even I have seen so many times how Irish people drive their cars. Hover, it doesn’t mean that Irish drivers are worse than Polish ones. Let me say, we are both bad drivers, but we are not the same bad drivers, actually Polish and Irish drivers are like a two pieces of jigsaw, that could create one excellent driver.
Irish drivers lack of the imagination and awareness. Sometimes they seem to drive the car while sleeping. The most terrible behaviour on the country roads is the driving the car, truck or tractor in the middle of the road, having the whit line just in the middle between the wheels. On the country roads that bend like a snake it is very dangerous, especially when many Irish people drive fast new cars (consumption in Ireland is very high - typical for the society that used to be poor), so there is a lot of accidents. The next bad habit typical for Irish drivers is almost complete lack of knowledge when the indicators should be used. It is so often visible (or rather not visible) on the roundabouts. Yet another typical bad behaviour of Irish drivers is parking cars wherever they want to stop. Once - in Birr - I saw old lady who stopped her car on the junction, just before the traffic lights. She just turned off the engine, and went to the shop leaving the car on the regular strip of the street.
Those examples are quite typical and happens regularly. However Irish drivers have one feature that is not typical for Polish ones. It is a culture of friendly driving. Irish drivers let the other drivers go, do not challenge each other, do not try to prove who is the best. Many times being stock in traffic jam I saw the drivers who let go others who were leaving car parks, or driving across the main street. Being pedestrian I like very much the way how the Irish drivers treat people who are passing the street. Many times I just stopped close to the crossing zebras, thinking about something and then realising that the traffic just stopped. Usually when I come back from Ireland to Poland I have to take care about myself, especially when I am crossing the street. In Poland drivers don’t stop when somebody is closing to the zebras. Pedestrians are to wait, not the drivers. No body reduce speed if there is no body crossing. People on the pavements are not taken under consideration of the Polish drivers. I saw many times when cars were taking over each other while driving through the crossing places. Actually Polish drivers treat driving as a challenge. The other drivers are the enemies, and one has to show them who is the best, so Polish drivers speed a lot, take over (sometimes 3 cars at the same time) etc. Polish drivers know nothing about the culture of friendly driving, so don’t expect that somebody will let you go if there is a traffic jam. No body will care about you. Living and driving in such reality you have to be at least good driver, so we are, but comparing to the Irish drivers, we are not better at all.
Nice essay on driving habits.
Quite shallow, though.
Not a mention of good drivers on Polish side. None about Irish ones either. I suspect most are good ones. I have been run off the crossing by an Audi and a BMW driver in Poland recently.
But most drivers were ok. I am a Pole living in the USA for decades.
Ireland sure seems nice and inviting!
hey
Just a piece of advice from linguistic point of view.
An emigrant is someone who goes to live in another country and if you call someone emigrant it must carry kind of “distant” meaning.
(dictionary.com) a person who emigrates, as from his or her native country or region: They welcomed the emigrants from Italy.
An Immigrant on the other hand is someone who arrives in a destined country from a different one. There’s a sense of proximity in the meaning.
(dictionary.com) a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.
Just breaking the words up,
Emigrant is literally “One who moves out”
Immigrant is literally “One who moves in”
Cheers,
Lili
so basically if you’re talking from the Irish perspective you talk about immigrants from Poland. But if you talk from the Polish perspective you talk about the emigrants to Ireland.
Don’t know anything about Irish drivers, but I do know about Polish ones because I live there… and you’re absolutely right they are bastards!
A Polish driver might slow down if they see you crossing the road, stopping is highly unlikely, and swerving around you while maintaining speed is the most likely of all.
I try not to be rude about Polish people in general but behind the wheel they are simply irredeemable.
By the way, interesting blog, I will have to read more
This is an ironic piece because in Ireland it is legal for nearly a million people without a full driving license to be on the road and yet there is shock in the media at the resultant carnage.
And then we can talk about Poles driving like lunatics because they can finally afford to have a car.
Poland and Ireland have loads in common, bad road and bad drivers.
So agree about the Irish ones!!!! I’m actually cycling to go to work (Galway), and it’s maybe the most dangerous position in that country! Indicators and even lights are not really mandatory for some of them!
I’m from France, so I don’t really know the Polish aspect of driving…
I would just add a small thing about cars in Ireland. They do have big, powerfull and fast cars so they consume a lot of gaz… Isn’t funny that a “green” country ruled by a “green” party is consuming as much gaz as a country of 2 times its population???
cheers
Just found your blog,I have often thought of Ireland from an immigrants point of view.
I drive a taxi here in Dublin so I see loads of bad driving.
There are many people from so many lands now in Ireland.
I wish you all the best of luck..soon our factories will be opening in a town near where you came from and then your star will rise too.
Good luck
Irish drivers are technically bad drivers and our licence system is a joke that is a fact. However it is also a fact that non national drivers are responsible for more than there fair share of accidents on Irish roads specifically poles this weekend 7 lives were claimed on irish roads and all 3 accidents involved poles. I don’t know the stats but every weekend it seems an eastern European is driving off the road, or into someone on the wrong side of the road. This could be because of our roads that “bend like a snake” but I think it has more to do with the fact that non nationals in Ireland can get away with driving without insurance and cannot be given penalty points. Therefore where is the incentive to slow down. At the end of the day Irish drivers are policed and non nationals are not. Resulting in dangerous Irish drivers being put off the road and dangerous non national drivers remaining on the roads until they kill them selves our someone else.
Don, you are right in most cases, but in my opinion the bad behaviour and attitude of many Polish drivers casues the accidents. Insurance has nothing to do. Driving without insurance make them even more careful. Even stupid person knows that it is bad to get into trouble with Garda Traffic Corps and lost the car, get into the court and then lost the job… Poles are not stupid like that.
Just to add to don’s comments about the weekend when so many were killed recently.
I did a quick search to see what the story was in poland, insurance in poland does cover polish drivers in Ireland, however when it expires they are required to go home to renew it.
And as we have heard the driving tests and training in poland is considerably better than in Ireland, the problem with those who undergo this training is that it is a machismo thing, a challenge, a battle to be won on the roads in poland which has spread to Ireland.
But the most alarming thing i have found in my search is that, alot of the polish drivers on the road in Ireland have not undergone any training or test, you can purchase a polish driving lisence, or even undergo the “fast test”, there is even a whole thread on a forum dedicated to foreigners (not all polish) trying to acquire polish lisences the quick way for jobs in the UK and Ireland.
Link to thread http://www.polishforums.com/polish_driving_licence-7_3377_0.html
And in relation to your generalisations of Irish Drivers, you might want to have a read of the European Commissions profiles of Ireland’s and Poland’s road safety, from a neutral point of view.
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety_library/care/doc/profiles/pdf/countryprofile_ie_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety_library/care/doc/profiles/pdf/countryprofile_pl_en.pdf
Kieron, I don’t know who generalises, me or Don?
As for your generalisation about buying driving license in Poland, please go and buy one for me.
Polish driving learning and examination system used to be very corrupted, but not any more. It used to be easy to pay “under the table” for the driving license, but it’s gone. Of course it is impossible to wipe out corruption completely. Anyway, driving exams in Poland are one of the hardest in Europe. You have cameras in a car, exam is recorded, and yo don’t know who will examine you. It is not a best option, because the examining centres makes a lot of money on it, so most of the Poles have from 3 to 5 or even 10 attempts to pass the exam. It doesn’t make them perfect drivers, but at least makes them better than Irish in the terms of driving skills and techniques.
and I didn’t claim that Polish roads are more safety than Irish. Please point out the paragraph in my original text. You can not find one, so I don’t see the reason of your accusations.
Mackozer, I am enjoying reading your blog about your journeys around Ireland, keep up the good work.
The generalisations i was referring to from your original text were.
“Irish drivers lack of the imagination and awareness. Sometimes they seem to drive the car while sleeping. The most terrible behaviour on the country roads is the driving the car, truck or tractor in the middle of the road, having the whit line just in the middle between the wheels. On the country roads that bend like a snake it is very dangerous, especially when many Irish people drive fast new cars (consumption in Ireland is very high - typical for the society that used to be poor), so there is a lot of accidents. The next bad habit typical for Irish drivers is almost complete lack of knowledge when the indicators should be used. It is so often visible (or rather not visible) on the roundabouts. Yet another typical bad behaviour of Irish drivers is parking cars wherever they want to stop. Once - in Birr - I saw old lady who stopped her car on the junction, just before the traffic lights. She just turned off the engine, and went to the shop leaving the car on the regular strip of the street.
Those examples are quite typical and happens regularly.”
And as for your opinion that “It doesn’t make them perfect drivers, but at least makes them better than Irish in the terms of driving skills and techniques.”
We have an old saying in Ireland, you might have come across it already, its probably one of the keys to our success.
The saying is “Self praise is no praise”.
Again I would refer you to the european commsions website linked above for a neutral opinion on driving and roads in Ireland and Poland. We could go on quoting negatives back and fort but it would be pointless, the neutral opinion on the european commission website is enlightening.
Kieron… as for the quote… this blog’s name is Ireland from a Polish perspective - it means my perspective and my experiences… and it is a blog not official newspaper or whatever…
I am describing experiences of mine and my friends (both Polish and Irish)…
and.. you haven’t answered my question… will you buy a Polish driving license for me? I am Polish in Poland but I can not.. Nowadays it is completely out of my and my friends possibilities due to the restrictions I described above.
Would you be so kind and get one for me?
Please also provide more relevant information about that - as relevant as the polishforums
again.. as for the safty on the roads.. you haven’t pointed out the thesis in my text that Polish roads are more safety than Irish ones. I just described some common behaviours I and my friends experienced, but I haven’t written that in Poland it is excellent…
Moreover… you seem to miss a part of my original text about Polish drivers and reality on the roads in Poland, so I will quote it for you:
“Usually when I come back from Ireland to Poland I have to take care about myself, especially when I am crossing the street. In Poland drivers don’t stop when somebody is closing to the zebras. Pedestrians are to wait, not the drivers. No body reduce speed if there is no body crossing. People on the pavements are not taken under consideration of the Polish drivers. I saw many times when cars were taking over each other while driving through the crossing places. Actually Polish drivers treat driving as a challenge. The other drivers are the enemies, and one has to show them who is the best, so Polish drivers speed a lot, take over (sometimes 3 cars at the same time) etc. Polish drivers know nothing about the culture of friendly driving, so don’t expect that somebody will let you go if there is a traffic jam. No body will care about you.”
You are accusing me of generalisations while generalising about Polish driving licences (basing on completely stupid questions of people who knows nothing about my country and about the system that is not in use anymore)
and sorry for a bit harsh tone of my reply, but I am a bit fed up with accusing me of something that I am far away of…
sometimes it really seems that people don’t read entire entry…
On Arranmore Island once I got a lift from a guy who had made the back window of his car from some plywood and the glass window of a washing machine, his joke was he asked people if they wanted to go for a spin :-). I laugh at Irish people who waste their money on Mercedes and BMW cars, Ireland is an island! and its not a bad place to walk around.
You are absolutely right! Greetings from Poland. I am coming to Ireland in 2 weeks
It was the greatest car in the world…..ever, handmade in Ireland
best bit of recycling i ever saw.
Interesting blog! I think Irish people have a well deserved, terrible reputation, as drivers. I spent a short time in Krakow and didn’t think they were too bad. As an Irish expat in Buenos Aires, however, I can confirm the Argentinians are in a league of their own!
Interesting blog! I think Irish people have a well deserved, terrible reputation, as drivers. I spent a short time in Krakow and didn’t think they were too bad.
Having travelled the Warsaw-Bydgoszcz road many times over the past few years and having lived and worked in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) for some 18 years (recently returned to Ireland), I can honestly say that my experience of Polish driving is not good.
The main complaint I have about Irish driving is that many appear to drive too slowly (CEE has conditioned me), but that in itself is not a problem if people are patient - a slow car is less likely to kill a pedestrian.
CEE drivers (males 20-40) tend to drive like lunatics with no regard for other road users or pedestrians. The Poles are regarded by most CEE residents as the worst offenders, with Polish vehicles involved in horrific accidents throughout europe.
There have been a couple of horrific Polish bus crashes in Hungary over the past few years and on each occassion it has been “it’s Hungarys signage” or something similar - in the case of Ireland it’s “the poor roads” which are blamed.
Well lets have a wake up call for all our Polish friends - if the road is poor you slow down - simple. If you are drunk you don’t drive - simple. Respect other road users - simple.
And if you don’t like it - piss off home - simple.
Mike: there is many things in Ireland I like and many I don’t like, but I see no reason to - as you wrote - “piss of home”. It is my right to describe what I see and what I am experiencing, both good and bad,
and I am describing them trying not to be biased on any favour.
If you can not accept the critical opinions about your country from a Polish emigrant and you have a problem with the content of my blog it is up to you if you read it or not - simple.
As for the drivers that drive after drinking alcohol. In Ireland most of them are Irish, and the Polish drinking drivers are in the same proportion as the Polish community compared to Irish. So wake up all drinking drivers not only Polish ones.
people learn to drive differently in other countries and have differant insticts or even rules. the problem is not just bad drivers but we are just not used to each others driving styles
none of ur excuses we all learn 2 drive differently in different countrys get serious wouldnt we all drive the same full of vodka get real an no more excuses .stop drinking and driving an then the problem will b solved .no more excuses
Polish drivers should get a good kick up the arse from Garda Mustard. He doesn’t even need a speed gun to catch them. On dual carraige ways, they think they own the right lane (could be because it makes them feel at home), so feckin aggresive.
They will tail gate you, while you overtake someone just going below the speed limit, flash lights and everthing… ignorance of it and dangerous. (How do I know they’re Polish? PL on the reg).
Im not saying we dont have the same types of Irish drivers. (Youll get the exact
t same behaviour with nob heads in ther’ye BMW X5s and Landrovers)
But I have’nt seen one Polish reg yet that has obayed the speed limit, rules of the road or shown any courtesy to other drivers.
And this is a very worrying view, in light of the way Irelands widened Boreens are designed.