{"id":1570,"date":"2014-04-07T00:38:46","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T00:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2020-12-21T12:09:52","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T17:09:52","slug":"driving-crazy-poland-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/blog\/driving-crazy-poland-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving (Crazy) in Poland, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Driving (Crazy) in Poland, Part 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>In the previous article in this series,\u00a0Agnieszka &amp; Anna Lapacz share some helpful information about obtaining the required documents to drive legally in Poland, plus they provide some general rules of the road all drivers in Poland need to know. <a title=\"Click here to read Part 1 of &quot;Driving (Crazy) in Poland).&quot;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/driving-crazy-poland-part-1\/\" rel=\"\">Click here to read Part 1 of &#8220;Driving (Crazy) in Poland).&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<h2 id=\"docs-internal-guid-4cc9a164-55e6-960d-7359-883b0b696a6f\"><strong>How and Why to Obtain a Polish Driver&#8217;s License<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">To take driving lessons and exams and therefore to get a driving license is much cheaper in Poland than in other EU countries such as for example Germany or Sweden. The average total cost of a driving course in Warsaw is PLN 1300 \u2013 1500 (+ additional PLN 1600 for exam, medical examination, and the sworn translator that is needed during the exam), while in Germany you will need to pay over EUR 2000 &#8211; 2500. This is a great chance for those who come to Poland to study or work and are going to stay here for a longer period of time. All you need to do is take driving lessons and then pass the theoretical and practical exam. \u201cVery often Germans come to Poland to pass the exam because our tests are not so complicated, and they often pass the exam at the first time,\u201d says the director of one of the driver schools.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But before you call the driving school, remember that the Polish driving license can only be issued to those foreigners who hold residency cards, that is, permissions to stay in Poland for a specified period of time (at least 6 months) or permanently.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">At the moment things changed a bit as there were a lot of foreigners whose licenses were kept by their national police, and who tried to pass the exam in Poland. Now, Polish authorities consult with national police departments before issuing the driving license to avoid giving the permit to somebody who broke the law in another country.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>For further information, check out this podcast from <a class=\"waffle-rich-text-link\" href=\"http:\/\/expatmoneyshow.com\/\">The Expat Money Show with Mikkel Thorup<\/a> &#8211; <a id=\"docs-linkbubble-link-text\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/expatmoneyshow.com\/captivate-podcast\/david-mckeegan-expat-entrepreneur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-tooltip-only-on-overflow=\"true\" aria-label=\"032: David McKeegan \u2013 Designing The Life Of Your Dreams A...\" data-tooltip=\"032: David McKeegan \u2013 Designing The Life Of Your Dreams A...\">032: David McKeegan \u2013 Designing The Life Of Your Dreams As An Expat Entrepreneur<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h2><strong>More Stories and Advice From the Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\"><em>Insulting Criticism: <\/em>\u201cIn Warsaw, a guy might leap out of his car and stomp up to your car. After I passed through an intersection with no traffic signs, a taxi driver followed me to where I parked a short distance away. He got out of his car and informed me most unpleasantly that I had turned when he had the right-of-way (and he was correct). In the worst case, a guy might even yank open your car door so that you better hear him rant about your driving. The insults get pretty creative (\u201cif you are afraid to drive this expensive car, why don\u2019t you buy yourself a wheelbarrow?!).\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Laura, USA<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Italians of the North:\u00a0<\/em>How you think about Polish drivers depends on the country you come from. Italians or French will feel at home, while German, Swedish, or Dutch visitors could be scared or, at least, angry. Poles represent the driving style of southern Europe where the road bans should be obeyed but are often broken. When another driver is doing some street tricks it is not seen as something very bad and usually is not stigmatized. Unless he is trying to push the car on your place. In this situation, both drivers start \u201cthe male conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u201cBribe? No, thank you.\u201d<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Drivers who break the speed limit risk a chat with the road police patrols. Fines are heavy and you\u2019ll be crying seeing your wallet empty. Never propose a bribe to police officer, whatever you were told before going to Poland \u2013 it is NOT A GOOD IDEA, and it is a crime. But you can always try to negotiate&#8230; especially women, who have a better chance of decreasing their fines. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are quite a lot of automatic photo-radars. Be aware.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u201cWhy is he flashing his lights at me?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0If you see another car passing by and flashing its lights it could mean one of two things, either there is something wrong with your car (your lights are off, for example) or there is a police patrol waiting for \u201cvisitors\u201d nearby. If you were kind enough to let another driver jump into the queue on the road, he will probably thank you with a short signal of lights.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u201cPedestrian zone? Who cares!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0That\u2019s another Polish sin: When we pedestrians are in a hurry, we don\u2019t look for pedestrian zones, we just cross the street believing that no car will hit us. Don\u2019t be surprised (and please be careful!) when suddenly somebody appears in front of your car. We Poles are always chasing something &#8211; a bus, a tram, \u00a0the subway &#8211; and we are not that patient in waiting for the green light.<\/p>\n<p>When you drive somewhere in the countryside be careful, there are a lot of local people walking (or riding a bike) on the road, some of them after a few beers. This is especially dangerous at night \u2013 they never wear reflective suits and can appear in front of you all of a sudden. On Friday and Saturday nights I have my eyes open wide as it is a time when pilgrimages of local teenagers are going to the temple \u2013 dancing club. You can be sure that 90% will be drunk on the way back.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Excerpted and adapted from the ebook &#8220;Relocation Guide to Poland&#8221; by Agnieszka &amp; Anna Lapacz.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>Here is<\/b> <b>probably the most extensive ebook on <\/b><b><i>Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Eliminating Your Taxes, Protecting Your Assets And Regaining Privacy Over Your Life And Investments<\/i><\/b><b>. It is called<\/b> <b>The<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.store\/product\/ultimate-guide-to-going-offshore\/\"> <b>Ultimate Guide To Going Offshore<\/b><\/a><b>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>I hope you enjoyed reading this article: Driving (Crazy) in Poland, Part 2. If you have any questions, please contact<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/offshore-services\" rel=\"nofollow\"> <b>our office HERE<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>I&#8217;ve included some great articles for you to read, enjoy!<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"LinkSuggestion__Link-sc-1mdih4x-2 jZPuuT\" href=\"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/driving-in-colombiapart-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Driving in Colombia &#8211; Part 1<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"LinkSuggestion__Link-sc-1mdih4x-2 jZPuuT\" href=\"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/driving-in-panama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Driving in Panama<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Driving (Crazy) in Poland, Part 2 In the previous article in this series,\u00a0Agnieszka &amp; Anna Lapacz share some helpful information about obtaining the required documents to drive legally in Poland, plus they provide some general rules of the road all drivers in Poland need to know. Click here to read Part 1 of &#8220;Driving (Crazy) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":43779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[117,235,241,308],"yst_prominent_words":[24719,24718,20799,5429,9604,8406,20800,14662,20802,2845,20801,20797,2843,18693,9592,20803,2562],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/street-3205265_640.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43778,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/43778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}