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www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=41741&...e
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Hmm. Just looked at that thread and I suspect a lot of the info is incorrect - especially about the Poles having a strict roadworthiness test. I have visited Poland in the past (Opole, Wroclaw area) and there is no way some of the cars I saw there would pass an MoT. In fact I suspect that some of the E. European cars I see in my neighbourhood would be illegal under both UK and their home roadworthiness legislation.
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There is some ACPO guidence on Insurance issues involving UK reg. cars insured in Poland. I have it on my Blackberry as an attachment to an e-mail. I would happily post it here but don't know how to ! Basically what it says is that UK reg. cars insured in Poland don't work.
We're getting enough Polish related work now to have employed two workers do informed translation work. It's a deeply cryptic language, SWMBO who learned passable Welsh in a few months blanches at the thought of even a few phrases in Polish.
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"It's a deeply cryptic language, SWMBO who learned passable Welsh in a few months blanches at the thought of even a few phrases in Polish."
Yeah I did Latin, French and German O levels but Polish is like Klingon to me. Gets easier after a litre of vodka though.
The Polish MOT is at least as tough, if not tougher than the UK one, I've put my car through one. It includes weighing the car and cross referencing VIN/chassis numbers against documentation and a laser alignment check of the wheels. I can't speak for all stations but where I went it was a huge place with a production line set up, lots of cars queueing to go on.
Maybe these guys can be bribed, I don't know there were certainly lots of them and a lot of the data went straight from the testing equipment to printouts so no human intervention. Probably easier just to spend the money getting the car straight in the first place. I just got new front pads fitted and a lamp/electrical gremlin sorted out for 35 quid.
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Well if their maintain their cars like a Polish bus company that operated in {deleted - DD} did we are in trouble :D I have noticed a lot of Polish cars too. Sadly they are boring cars, noticed their Daweoo's are much lower spec than hours. The rest are just boring cars you can buy in the UK. I want to see FSO's, Ladas etc.
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I had a Polish registered Lada in front of me in Northampton today. When the traffic slowed right down he put his brakes on and locked his back wheels right away. Good job the road was dry.
Semilong where I used to live has a high level of Polish cars and walking to the shop, you get a close look at them - oh dear oh dear.
Some of the cars are decent enough though many of the older ones are clearly not roadworthy and its about time the police stopped worrying about being politically correct and dealt with it.
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Some of the cars are decent enough though many of the older ones are clearly not roadworthy
I live in South East, where, if you are to believe Daily Mail statistics 4 out of 5 people you meet on the street are Poles and every second car on the road should statistically have foreign registration plates, but joking aside, I am yet to see unroadworthy example. Old cars. Yes. Ugly cars. Yes. Cars that even unemployed Brit would not be seen driving. Yes. But not roadworthy. Can't say I have seen a single one yet. And the way I look at it - if it drove throusand+ miles across Europe to get here, perhaps it's not in as bad shape as we, living in a disposable world where keeping 10 year old car is a crime equal to littering residential street if not a straight red mark on a credit score, would think.
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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being politically correct
I don;t think its that - its a language issue.....North Wales Police patrol with VOSA and Polish Police Officers. I am given to understand they have a couple of Polish speakers in their ranks. Brunstrom's blogs offer a fasicnating insight, although I don't live in his area I am there often enough to have an interest. In fact of fup there tomorrow on the bike for a few days peace.
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I live in South East......I am yet to see unroadworthy example.
We had a company car written off in the South east by a Polish guy driving a ropey old car with no insurance. Quite a big head-on crash - he'd have probably scarpered had he not been injured.
Having said that there was a guy in our village (in the North West) who drove an oldish Merc on foreign plates for years, although it's gone now.
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v0n - I don't think you have been looking very hard. Just yesterday I saw a very old Opel on Polish plates. It looked like the bodyshell was twisted and hardly a panel was dent free. Its a long time since I saw a UK reg car in that state - even the teenage joyriders wouldn't have bothered with it.
I have also noticed large numbers of East Europeans (mainly Russians I think) at the salvage auctions. They buy something that's had a light smash and literally repair it on the spot and then drive off - incredible to see.
Last October I saw four young blokes, Albanians I think, buy a white Lexus LS400 with smashed front (bumper, lights gone, but rad was OK). Off they drove in it!
Incidentally, before anyone jumps on the PC bandwagon and calls me a racist I should highlight the fact that I actually have East European relatives and have a great affection for Poland and the Poles (been there a few times) - that doesn't excuse them from driving roadworthy cars though. Ditto Russians, Albanians and anyone else for that matter.
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v0n - I don't think you have been looking very hard. Just yesterday I saw a very old Opel on Polish plates. It looked like the bodyshell was twisted and hardly a panel was dent free. Its a long time since I saw a UK reg car in that state
That's precisely what I meant - just because it looks battered, cosmetically challenged and unroadworthy (or unworthy) to a Brit it doesn't mean it's not in good enough mechanical order to pass its equivalent of MOT. I know it wouldn't fly in Britian, we tend to dial local councils towing truck at first sight of any car with faded paint on the roof and traces of rust on wheels parked in the neighbourhood, but in all honesty - my first car was 18 year Trabant, it looked awful, Dulux paintjob, coat hanger aerial, the whole nine yards. For all it's worth - it even smelled awful. But for every single day of its underpowered, slow pace life in my hands it was always roadworthy. I think it's just consumer outlook more than anything else - it is perfectly acceptable for us to see a character drive late sixties battered pickup truck on US movies, but anything older than a decade on our streets is automatically discarded like it was to loose its driving abilities with first spot of rust on the bonnet or start spreading tetanus the moment the clock shows 100,000 miles.
I do accept however that some of those old foreign rides will never make it back to Poland or Latvia for their MOT and other foreign plate vehicles, sooner rather than later will even become a very tradable item as they offer security from parking commando's, bus lane I-spies and congestion charging camradery, but then again - "you rip what you saw". The issue is easy to fix anyway - Tony & Guys could make MOTs obligatory for any vehicle older than 3 years with border control sticker older than, say 3 months... Visitors could buy such sticker together with ferry or tunnel crossing tickets and display them on the windscreen for the duration of their visit.
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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They do have a pretty good testing system in Poland the problem is corruption yopu can buy genuine docs for jusy about anything even class 1's were available until recently when they had a minor clampdown.They have stopped Gemans going over the border for driving licences supposedly a two week course in reality cross the border register with driving school and a hotel come back two weeks later cross palms and you have a genuine EU driving licence when ministry people do not earn enough to feed their family what can you expect,watch out for the Czech traffic police a few days before pay day.
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Just to put the subject into a wider context in the interest of balance, I live in Spain and there are plenty of UK "registered" cars and vans driving about with "heritage" plates - no tax, insurance, no MOT (locally ITV). The police run occasional checks and haul a few off to the pound, but it seems to be a continuing problem.
The situation will get worse later this year as they are dropping the requirement to change to Spanish registration plates after 90(?) days, as it is against EU harmonisation rules.
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Same in the SW of France. Check the number of UK registered vehicles in long stay at Carcassonne airport - very few sporting any kind of valid tax disk!
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Well it's refreshing to learn that we're not the only suckers around! I think these rules should be much tighter throughout the EU. Like Aprilia I have rellies in E. Europe and some of the things drivers do there routinely have to be seen to be believed! Part of the problem with immigrants I am sure is ignorance - a lack of knowledge regarding the rules in the host country. Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that in many cases our laws are deliberately flouted as they can see no good reason why they should not do as they do at home as their chances of getting caught are minimal. We have enough dodgy drivers here without adding to the numbers by importing more and the sooner the authorities get tough on all of them the better.
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This problem will increase, not decrease, with the advent of road pricing, I think. It certainly has in London, where there is a black market in foreign registered cars to go in & out of the congestion zone !
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I am sure that as long as a foreign registered car leaves the country once a year it is currently immune from any MoT or other traffic laws. There is a guy who lives near us with his wife and family and his wife has a UK reg car. He has a Swiss reg Merc and he goes overseas in it a couple of times a year. Pays no road tax here or needs an MoT. No parking tickets, speeding tickets etc. Drives me mad.
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But at least he buys his fuel here. Some minor consolation, perhaps..?
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