Grzegorz Borzęcki, resident of Rokitno, a village in the eastern Lublin province, has planted on his property a yellow-painted birdhouse which imitates a speed radar model that is widely used in Poland, the radio.lublin.pl website said.
As his plot is located right next to a road, the installation is perfectly visible to drivers who are made to believe they are approaching a speed camera.
Borzęcki says he noticed that upon seeing the dummy, motorists had already begun to take their foot off the accelerator.
“By placing this device I wanted to make everyone aware that people drive here at excessive speed even though the road is winding,” Borzęcki said as quoted by private broadcaster TVN.
His initiative has won the support of the village administrator who argues that even if the road is not very busy, some drivers do speed on it.
The dummy radar is in no breach of the law as it is located on private property, off a public road and off a traffic lane, staff sergeant Jagoda Stanicka of the Police Headquarters in Lubartów was quoted as saying by TVN.
She added that over the last two years, local police reported 68 traffic offenses in Rokitno, 49 of which concerned exceeding the speed limit.
Some 10 other similar speed camera lookalikes may have been put up across Poland, the radio.lublin.pl website said.
(mo)
Source: Radio Lublin, TVN