"Risky style of driving". Video of prime minister's motorcade ride

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Saturday, May 4. At the amphitheatre in Pułtusk, Law and Justice's (PiS) "patriotic picnic" comes to an end. The event was attended by Jarosław Kaczyński and Mateusz Morawiecki. Disco polo legendary group Bayer Full performed live on the stage. Behind this very scene, next to government's motorcade cars, wait a few drivers. After numerous accidents within the last few months, involving the SOP vehicles, we've decided to take a closer look on the style of driving of prime minister's drivers.

According to information gathered by tvn24.pl from sources close to the SOP, during the long May weekend, some of the prime minister's drivers had days off and thus were replaced by less experienced officers.

Morawiecki was driven to Pułtusk by a driver with no serious experience outside the PM's current security detail. Driver of the front vehicle of the motorcade has only slightly more work experience than his collegue.

5.13 pm on a narrow, two-lane road next to Michałów-Reginów village, a section of Pułtusk-Warszawa road (30 kilometres from Warsaw). The PM's motorcade overtakes the tvn24.pl reporter. Three SOP cars are driving aggressively through the middle of the road. First one, a bmw, flashes his brights forcing the drivers from the oncoming lane to escape to the hard shoulder. The cars slow down and form a line right next to an overpass above the road.

There's about 100-metre distance between the bwm and the PM's mercedes. The motorcade is closed by a third bmw.

We've shown the videos captured by two cameras to a few former officers of Government Protection Bureau (BOR has been replaced the SOP).

Colonel Mirosław Depko, former BOR chief of transport told tvn24.pl that, in his opinion, the drivers from prime minister's motorcade made a series of errors and led to a situation when "the security became the biggest threat to the protected person".

"The first car is clearly too far away from the second that carried the PM - judging by the roadside posts, we may assume it was a good 100 metres. They were driving on a two-way road. Someone could have entered from a side road right before the rushing motorcade. This sort of mistake was made when a tyre broke in the car that carried the president (in March 2016) and in Oświęcim," said the colonel.

Let us remind that the accident in Oświęcim in which the then prime minister Beata Szydło was injured took place in February 2017. A car turning left into a side road cut between the first car of the motorcade and the second that carried the former PM, forcing her driver to an abrupt manouver which ended in the car smashing onto a tree. According to witnesses, that motorcade, unlike PM Morawiecki's one, did not use sound signals.

According to an expert, this was the result of an error called "fox chasing", in other words, when there's too big a distance between the leading car and the second one that has to chase the former.

"The main car should set the pace (the second in the column). The driver of the first car adapts to pace and keeps the distance by watching the rearview mirror," Depko explained.

In his opinion, that was only one of the errors made by Morawiecki's drivers. "They should have been driving on the right side of the road, not on the left risking head-on collision. That's a risky style of driving, which can only be ordered by the chief of security. Furthermore, the main car in this case was badly marked as it didn't have visual warning signals on the roof. They should be used, even though it's not stated in the traffic regulations," said the colonel.

He also pointed out that SOP car drivers shouldn't have flashed his brights because that's what only road hogs do, not state service. "He could have switched on the brights permanently, as he is allowed to do by the regulations. There's no such thing as flashing the brights," said the former officer.

He added that the aggressive and risky style of driving suggests lack of experience of the drivers. "That's a rookie error. When young drivers switch on the beacons than they get amped by adrenaline rush. Experienced drivers don't do that anymore," he said.

Former BOR chiefs, General Grzegorz Mozgawa and General Andrzej Pawlikowski assessed the prime minister's motorcade in a smilar manner.

"There are many such situations in the recent SOP activities. The "effects" of the adopted methodology of training are visible. The leading car is driving too far away from the main car, allowing any other vehicle to cut in between the motorcade units. This situation is similar to the accident that took place in Oświęcim," said Mozgawa.

Pawlikowski agreed with him and added that the whole ride was "too dynamic" and even "road-hog-like, especially on this type of roads".

"They have disobeyed traffic regulations as well as security measures. Such fast driving can easily lead to a situation like the one in Oświęcim. Any driver can get frightened, make a sudden turn and collide with the motorcade car," added former BOR chief.

The SOP spokesperson Bogusław Piórkowski, who have also seen the videos, says that the drive was performed by the book. "There are situations when the first car needs to accelerate and leave the column in order to block a crossing way ahead. Then the main car is protected by the second protective vehicle," said the spokesperson.

On May 9, we have asked the then spokesperson for the government and the Government Information Centre, if on May 4 the prime minister had some pressing issues in Warsaw that would justify his fast ride back to the city. By the time of publication of this text we've received no answer.

Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Grzegorz Łakomski, tvn24.pl