Rzeczpospolita has obtained statistics on automatic speed enforcement in Poland.
According to the newspaper, cameras recorded 1.5 million speeding violations in the country last year, including 120,000 involving vehicles registered outside the European Union.
The largest group of offending vehicles had Ukrainian registration plates. Last year, cameras recorded 77,200 such vehicles. The number of violations involving Ukrainian-registered cars has been growing, with 52,000 cases recorded in 2023.
Cars with Belarusian registration plates were caught by speed cameras 7,400 times last year. In 2024, the number of Belarusian offenders stood at 8,100, while in 2023 it was nearly 9,400.
Drivers pay fines for such violations much less frequently. A total of 3,443 fines were issued last year, including 2,500 to Ukrainian citizens, 42 to Belarusians and one to a Russian citizen. In 2024, Belarusians received 129 fines, while in 2023 they received 183.
As explained in the article, it is impossible to automatically identify the owner of a vehicle caught on camera because of the absence of international agreements. As a result, offenders are fined only during direct roadside checks, when it turns out that the vehicle is listed in the offenders database.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure is preparing amendments to the vehicle registration law. The plan is to require drivers from Ukraine and Belarus to re-register their vehicles in Poland after one year of residence in the country. However, the bill has not yet been submitted to the Sejm and remains under revision following interagency and public consultations.
