Red Tape Hot Box on European junkyard
Moreover, most people say that it's okay to import second-hand products. After all, they are much cheaper, aren't they? Yes, they are, but cheaper in terms of price also means that they are cheaper in terms of quality.
Let's take a look at the imported old cars. Many of them are in such bad shape that they end up in junkyards. Their parts are sold and used in other almost "dead" cars, which might still be repaired. It goes without saying that such vehicles - after they are "fixed" and eventually purchased - are big pollutants and are also very unsafe. Last year, almost 80 percent of all accidents involved old cars. We don't have official statistics on how many of these vehicles were imported from Western Europe, but we can guess that the number is quite high.
What makes this market so attractive isn't only the money saved, but also the possibility of employment. Many people work in hauling the old, post-accident cars from all over the EU countries, while hundreds of others repair them. But there aren't that many people who make a living out of used cars, especially when compared with the number of people in our society who suffer from the high emissions of exhaust gases as well as the lack of safety on the roads.
In many Western European countries, there are days when the citizens get rid of used, but still functioning things, by placing them on the street. Quite often, the people who take them from the street are Poles, who then sell them back home. Nobody checks if these things are safe and nobody counts how many accidents happen as a direct result of these risky, second-hand machines. The Germans, Swiss and French are happy, because we help them get rid of their junk: Instead of filling up their junkyards, it all goes to ours. Of course, there are people who are really in need of second-hand products - of decent quality - because they can't afford to buy new ones from the shops, but there should be some limit on what we import. Otherwise Poland will be associated with a European junkyard - which is already sometimes the case...
Let's take a look at the imported old cars. Many of them are in such bad shape that they end up in junkyards. Their parts are sold and used in other almost "dead" cars, which might still be repaired. It goes without saying that such vehicles - after they are "fixed" and eventually purchased - are big pollutants and are also very unsafe. Last year, almost 80 percent of all accidents involved old cars. We don't have official statistics on how many of these vehicles were imported from Western Europe, but we can guess that the number is quite high.
What makes this market so attractive isn't only the money saved, but also the possibility of employment. Many people work in hauling the old, post-accident cars from all over the EU countries, while hundreds of others repair them. But there aren't that many people who make a living out of used cars, especially when compared with the number of people in our society who suffer from the high emissions of exhaust gases as well as the lack of safety on the roads.
In many Western European countries, there are days when the citizens get rid of used, but still functioning things, by placing them on the street. Quite often, the people who take them from the street are Poles, who then sell them back home. Nobody checks if these things are safe and nobody counts how many accidents happen as a direct result of these risky, second-hand machines. The Germans, Swiss and French are happy, because we help them get rid of their junk: Instead of filling up their junkyards, it all goes to ours. Of course, there are people who are really in need of second-hand products - of decent quality - because they can't afford to buy new ones from the shops, but there should be some limit on what we import. Otherwise Poland will be associated with a European junkyard - which is already sometimes the case...
