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Thinking of motoring in Europe this summer in the Boxster, has anyone got any experience of motoring in Poland & Czech Republic? I know Poland hasn't got many motorways but any further info is appreciated. I have experience of driving in Italy & France (where I think they're pretty dangerous drivers BTW). How do these countries compare?
Edited by Pugugly on 02/06/2008 at 23:09
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There was a serious amount of road building going on when I was in Poland last year.
I remember basically one wide strip of road with trucks and slower vehicles tucked over and other vehicles over-taking in the remaining shared space as and when they could.
Great fun, even on a fully loaded up Africa Twin! Much more exciting than the endless autobahns of Germany.
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I think that if you consider France and Italy as bad drivers then expect far worse. Far far worse!
I consider France quite ok personally; as long as you are prepared to keep moving.
I think you may be in for some eye opening if you go where you intend.
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I thought driving was much like here in Czech Republic, but I just drove to Prague and back, so didn't spend any time in the backwoods.
Prague traffic police, or some of them, may see you as a walking £20 note though and try to hustle you into paying some fictitious on-the-spot fine, which you may well do to save yourself from hassle. You have been warned.
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Certainly you have to get into the mindset of the traffic flow.
I found it very enjoyable though, you can get along with the business of driving (Or riding in my case) which without a rigid set of laws (Or indeed a central line let alone reservation) is extremely satisfying.
You will be pleased of the grunt a Porsch offers though. ;-)
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"I know Poland hasn't got many motorways but any further info is appreciated."
By no means true, it has beautiful, well made and fast motorways that wipe the floor with any UK motorway. They're always as good as empty too since they're toll roads. It's not an extensive network but it's growing all the time.
What mss1tw is describing are really "A" roads. They're basically single carriageway with a pedestrian strip marked out with a white line, the savvy drivers will move over into this pedestrian area and allow you to pass down the middle of the road. It works ok, the problem is when oncoming traffic wants to overtake at the same time you do. Be really careful and keep a look out as far in front as you can. These are very fast roads and when people make mistakes the consequences are awful. 20 deaths a day in Poland, give or take.
Not many speed cameras and they are clearly signed so you can blow the cobwebs off that Boxter. The Polish mentality is to overtake anything in front, you have to travel well in excess of the limits to shake off tailgaters. Don't crash on the country lanes, they're lined with big trees and drainage ditches. Police hang around the village areas (also clearly signed) in the bus stops which are 50kph.
In the cities, you can turn right on a red light but pedestrians have priority. Also, even when you turn on a green light, the pedestrians on the road into which you're turning will still have a green man signal. They also have priority, it's really easy to almost mow them down. They have that insane rule for quiet back streets where you have to stop and let traffic out of minor roads. Should be out-lawed, it still catches me out after 4 years - it applies in car parks too.
It's a great place to be, I know a few backroomers have done driving holidays here and after driving in the UK for any amount of time it's like finding freedom. Poles are notoriously bad drivers, no doubt about it, but just enjoy the free entertainment. Check out a supermarket and see how they park. Don't believe any horror stories you might hear and feel free to drop me an email.
Almost forgot - I'm sure there's tram etiquette but I haven't bothered learning it. When they're all around me and I've no idea who has priority I close my eyes and hit the gas. Works every time.
Dave, Warsaw.
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"Prague traffic police, or some of them, may see you as a walking £20 note though and try to hustle you into paying some fictitious on-the-spot fine, which you may well do to save yourself from hassle."
If you're stopped in Poland don't try and bribe them, take the ticket and drive off. Don't bother about paying it, throw it in the bin, it will never get back to you. Make sure you carry all you're documents though, they'll take your car off you if you can't produce them on the spot.
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Quite a lot of experience of driving in Czech.
My experiences are:-
Many of the locals drive very fast when out of town and take more risks than in England, e.g. tailgating etc. It is advisable just to move over. There is also a drink drive issue in the villages, little walking to the pub so be aware.
Road quality is mixed, lot of EU money going in however and has probably improved in the last 5 years.
In Prague itself, the traffic is awful stop start and you go nowwhere fast. You also need to consider the trams and cobbles particularly if it is wet. The two together are not a pleasant combination. Aviod driving in Prague if you can, the trams are great for getting around.
On the positives, they have the best beer in the world!
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Agree with Dave the roads in both Poland and the Czech Republic are on the whole far better than anything in the UK,I go to both countries regulary and have never found or had a problem.
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Quite a lot of experience of driving in Czech. Many of the locals drive very fast when out of town and take more risks than in England e.g. tailgating etc. It is advisable just to move over. There is also a drink drive issue in the villages little walking to the pub so be aware.
I never came across that out in the sticks in the Czech Republic, I found I was driving quicker than most and I'm not a speedster!
Many towns have trams, buses and trolleybuses (Plzen for example) so you need to keep your wits about you - also the traffic lights get swirched to flashing amber outside normal hours.
Road surfaces aren't brilliant, even the new ones, they can be especially slippy in wet weather and the road markings don't show up very well at all!
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"Agree with Dave the roads in both Poland and the Czech Republic are on the whole far better than anything in the UK"
Eeeerrr... What ? You prolly confused Poland with Holland huh :)
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Thats what I thought too, which is why I put in my last para...
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Just a thought, from a year or two back. I wonder if these countries have the nasty little gap in the concrete, between the two lanes. The main motorway, with two lanes, from Vienna to Budapest had this, and overtaking a slow lorry, in the wet, on a loaded bike was very twitchy. The Kawasaki750 I had a while back didn't have very wide tyres, and they hated this gap.
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