Last update 7.7.2019 | First published 24.5.2004
Polish traffic rules are mild and easy to understand. But take care, traffic police is everywhere and controls are massive.
Index : 37% of European mean value
| 0.2‰ | €48 | €50 | €60 | €75 |
To foreigners the Polish reactions to traffic offences seem mild. The fines are low and can even be negotiated on the spot. You can not automatically lose your license and the speeding fine system specifies the same fine for the same violation in all zones.
| The important numbers : | |||||
| Limit – km/h | 50/60(1 | 90 | 100 | 120 | 140 |
| Fine +21 km/h(2 | €48 | €48 | €48 | €48 | €48 |
| Fine +41 km/h(2 | €96 | €96 | €96 | €96 | €96 |
| LICENSE(3 | 100/110(1 | – | – | – | – |
| 1) 60 km/h during night from 23.00 to 05.00, ie. the limit for license withdrawal is increased to 110 kph during the night. 2) Maximum fine. 3) You will get your license withdrawn in Poland but only in a built-up area with 50 kph plus. There is, however, a points system, with more than 24 points within 12 months you will lose your license. You can be given points for various offences at the same time. The maximum number of points for speeding is 10 points. |
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CROSS-COUNTRY FINES:
Member of the European cross-country fine cooperation. Any traffic fine may arrive at your home address.
Fines may automatically be shared between Austria, Chech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
Member of the European cross-country fine cooperation. Any traffic fine may arrive at your home address.
Fines may automatically be shared between Austria, Chech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
TOLERANCE:
10 km/h
10 km/h
You will now lose your driving license automatically because of speeding in Poland.
In May, 2014 the Polish Ministry of Interior introduced an immediate loss of the driving license for speeding. But only for exceeding the speed limit by 50 kph in a built-up area – and only for 3 months.
In May, 2014 the Polish Ministry of Interior introduced an immediate loss of the driving license for speeding. But only for exceeding the speed limit by 50 kph in a built-up area – and only for 3 months.
Foreigners will have to pay on the spot, Poles get a credit of 7 days.
For the complete list on Polish fines, check Taryfikator Mandatów i punktów karnych (Polish only).
NATO have good stuff on Polish traffic rules. Very good, very trustworthy.
For good advice, visit Driving in Poland.
| Poland in detail : | ||||
| violation | fine(zloty)(1 | fine(1 | points | |
| + 1-10 km/h | 50 | €12 | 1 | |
| + 11-20 km/h | 100 | €24 | 2 | |
| + 21-30 km/h | 200 | €48 | 4 | |
| + 31-40 km/h | 300 | €72 | 6 | |
| + 41-50 km/h | 400 | €96 | 8 | |
| + 51 km/h(2 | 500 | €120 | 10 | |
| 1) This is max fine 2) This fine is for the excessive speed only. If you get caught the Police can charge you with reckless driving. The fine will then increase, you may even get arrested.Source: Driving in Poland Fines and reactions may change without any warnings. Values in Euro are approximate. |
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About Polish police
The words below are all extracts of earlier comments to this web. The information may be outdated, things may have changed.
2004: Foreigners have to pay fines on the spot in Polish currency, although I have paid in other currencies. There are ever-changing tables specifying speeding fines. However, it is mostly down to your negotiating skills. For example, for 125 kph in a 70 kph zone, expect to start at around PLN 500 (about USD 125) and some guff about informing your Embassy. You should end up with paying PLN 100-200 and no further action.
There are no speed cameras. Enforcement is by hand-held radar. Almost invariably they lurk just inside built-up areas, often over a hill or round a corner, or at cross-roads with a 70 kph restriction. On a 300 km trip expect to go through at least three checks, up to about ten. On public holidays there are many more. Out of built-up areas and where there is no restriction, don’t worry.
2005: They’ve started using speed cameras and the number of cameras is increasing rapidly. They are installed no only in built up areas, but also on major intersections where the speed limit is posted lower than outside them.
2008: Since they started using mobile cameras, pictures are now taken both front and back..
2010: Negotiating with police is getting more and more difficult – especially if you meet a road police (“R” sign on the car door). They will give you a fine. But it depends. Few times they… let me go. Good advice: don’t try to fool out of them, telling you did nothing. If you admit your mistake, you would be in better position. You can try to ask, to get a ticket for different violation you did (for eg. no lights). Sometimes it works.”Since they started using mobile cameras, pictures are now taken both front and back..” – don’t worry. They won’t send any picture abroad. I can tell you more – none is interested in pictures with foreign machines (few times police said that oficially)
2011: The amount of unmarked police cars (mainly Vectra C, Passat, Megane, Octavia, Superb) with cameras is growing rapidly. You can find them on many roads. They are fast. If you are caught, don’t expect negotiations – whole duty is filmed, so guys can do nothing more than give you a ticket. Good news – police isn’t very interested in highways (no speed cameras there, small chance for meeting with a unmarked police car) so (on your own responsibility) you can go as fast as you want. 160-200 km/h is not an unusual speed. But be careful!!! Some people are not looking into mirrors!
The words below are all extracts of earlier comments to this web. The information may be outdated, things may have changed.
2004: Foreigners have to pay fines on the spot in Polish currency, although I have paid in other currencies. There are ever-changing tables specifying speeding fines. However, it is mostly down to your negotiating skills. For example, for 125 kph in a 70 kph zone, expect to start at around PLN 500 (about USD 125) and some guff about informing your Embassy. You should end up with paying PLN 100-200 and no further action.
There are no speed cameras. Enforcement is by hand-held radar. Almost invariably they lurk just inside built-up areas, often over a hill or round a corner, or at cross-roads with a 70 kph restriction. On a 300 km trip expect to go through at least three checks, up to about ten. On public holidays there are many more. Out of built-up areas and where there is no restriction, don’t worry.
2005: They’ve started using speed cameras and the number of cameras is increasing rapidly. They are installed no only in built up areas, but also on major intersections where the speed limit is posted lower than outside them.
2008: Since they started using mobile cameras, pictures are now taken both front and back..
2010: Negotiating with police is getting more and more difficult – especially if you meet a road police (“R” sign on the car door). They will give you a fine. But it depends. Few times they… let me go. Good advice: don’t try to fool out of them, telling you did nothing. If you admit your mistake, you would be in better position. You can try to ask, to get a ticket for different violation you did (for eg. no lights). Sometimes it works.”Since they started using mobile cameras, pictures are now taken both front and back..” – don’t worry. They won’t send any picture abroad. I can tell you more – none is interested in pictures with foreign machines (few times police said that oficially)
2011: The amount of unmarked police cars (mainly Vectra C, Passat, Megane, Octavia, Superb) with cameras is growing rapidly. You can find them on many roads. They are fast. If you are caught, don’t expect negotiations – whole duty is filmed, so guys can do nothing more than give you a ticket. Good news – police isn’t very interested in highways (no speed cameras there, small chance for meeting with a unmarked police car) so (on your own responsibility) you can go as fast as you want. 160-200 km/h is not an unusual speed. But be careful!!! Some people are not looking into mirrors!
Other points:
- You have to carry all your documents with you: driving licence, international driving licence, passport, vehicle registration document and third party insurance. There is a fine of PLN 50 per document (but no more than 250 PLN in total) if any of these are missing but also a likely delay of up to an hour while they check everything and write it all down.
- Bikes have to have lights on all year round.
- Dark visors are legal and loud pipes are tolerated (although they annoy everyone IMO).
- There is still priority to the right. In general this is over-ruled by the standard diamond sign but watch out for junctions in town away from the main roads and some roundabouts.
- The standard of the roads is generally very poor, with worn-out, shiny asphalt and deep ruts from the trucks on the main routes. Bear this in mind before you attempt peg-scraping antics. You can often have far more fun finding a route using the “yellow” roads.
- Polish drivers tend to be fast but lacking in skill. Many have minimal experience and it is still very common to pay a bribe for a driving licence.
02.10.2024 @ 14:43
Guys, I am visiting Poland and rented a car. I didn’t get any speeding ticket as the tolerance here is very high. I was mostly speeding by 20 kph above the limit but driving as fast as typical locals and not as fast as the fastest ones as I assumed they probably know how fast you can go without any issues with the police.
But I got a ticket anyway for… crossing the empty street on foot at the red light. I was sure this is not a problem as I did it in many European countries also in front of the policemen but here a police car turned on the sirens and to my surprise went after us and we got to pay two 200 tickets by card straight away. Policemen told us that that’s the law and said that they are kind anyway that we should pay only for adults not for kids.
I didn’t want any trouble so I paid the fine, but could you assure me that this really is the case in Poland? I started to look if locals do it and it’s much more rare here than usually but it happens so I’m not sure. You know we don’t look like locals so the policemen could’ve thought that they can trick us. Sorry, but I haven’t been to any country east of Germany – Czechia – Austria before and maybe it’s me thinking about some wrongdoing of the police in this Eastern part of Europe.
05.12.2024 @ 12:21
Unfortunately, the police had the right to give you a ticket. In Poland, the regulations strictly prohibit crossing a pedestrian crossing when the traffic light is red, even if the road is empty. People do this sometimes, especially in cities, but at their own risk.
03.06.2024 @ 08:30
Good Morning Ma’am / Sir,
I have a concern regarding on fine they give to me yesterday because base on what cost of fine here the overspeed of +31 to 40 kmph is only 300 PLN right? but I paid 800 PLN in total, like what the rules on this post I’ve bring my international and my country license and only 3 documents I didn’t bring first is Passport then second is Documents for Car registration and insurance but this car was rent by our company. So in total penalty 300PLN + 150PLN for not bringing documents is only 450PLN. Do you think 800PLN is the right amount for my penalty?
18.08.2024 @ 19:48
fine rates from this site are outdated. Since 2022 fine for going over 31-40kmh is 800 PLN
23.08.2024 @ 23:58
First of all, you should not have been fined at all.. Every night there are scores of cars speeding past our block in Wroclaw -near Tarczynski stadium – and no police ever stops them, never mind fines them. They would make several thousand PLN a night every night. Why did they stop you? Did you have a foreign number plate?
03.05.2024 @ 09:22
Hello my name is Evangelos i am from Greece . I visited Warsaw on December and after 5 months, yesterday i received an email from the renting company of the car. They provided me a letter of Chief Inspectorate of Road Transport that in a road of 50km i was driving 66..So they sent me this letter to make a declaration but i cant understand where do i have to make this statement… It would be easier if they just sent me the fine….They say that if i wont answer in 7 days they will make a decision.. I dont know that to do, i dont know if they can charge me when i am in a different Coyntry but i wouldnt risk it for a fine which is less than 50 euro if the fines you put here its updated….Thanks for your help
01.05.2024 @ 16:26
Hi,
We just got a parking ticket in Poland as a foreigner from last January and we’ve only received it now. The parking ticket doesn’t have any online link where we shall pay it
Kindly please advise where we shall pay it
05.05.2024 @ 13:05
Hi Kelly,
Do you live in Poland? Why do you want to pay the ticket?
20.03.2024 @ 11:57
Hey I’m foreigner in Poland , I just received a letter for a speed camera which happened 2 months ago. I have a polish driver license and i was speeding 18km/h over the limit (50 km/hr) , and now they gave me 7 days to confess or point who was driving it. What is it better to do to avoid having points (I don’t mind paying the fine)
07.04.2024 @ 01:59
Hi Biruk,
I don’t know if it is not to late, but… if you want to avoid points you can do a few things:
– refuse to reveal the driver and accept the fine (it can be double but no pints);
– reply that you do not remeber who was driving (the form you have received is not a legal document – you duty under the rules of law is to ‘reveal the person who you handed over the car to’ not to fill the form; Then they would most probably call you to the police station for interrogation.
– reveal that you have given the car to somebody (identified by name and surname, NOT address or personal data). They will need to identify that person and send him/her a letter asking to reveal if they were the driver (exactly as you got). You are not obliged to know his/her personal data like address or PESEL number etc, so if you play well they might not b able to locate the person and you will be fine with no points and no fine.
The simpliest is option no. 1
The 2 depends much on whether your face can be easily identified on the picture. If yes, I would go for opiton 1.
16.04.2024 @ 23:00
Hello
Please I’m confused about new rules of penalty points, we have 24 points in 1 year or 2 years ?
05.05.2024 @ 13:03
One year! They turned it into one year again. Hopefully.
04.05.2024 @ 20:02
Hello, I’m a foreigner who traveled to Poland last year, and I have just received a e-mail of a speeding fine from the rental car company. I was speeding 18km/h over the limit (50 km/hr) . I’m wondering how exactly could we do the No.1. Is there a website or some instructions about how exactly I can do it? I have literally no idea about how to do it because I have already left European Union by now.
Thank you very much for the reply!
22.02.2024 @ 22:30
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06.02.2024 @ 14:46
I got caught by the speed camera near Warsaw exceeding the speed limit by 40 km/h, resulting in 800 PLN fine and 9 points. I was driving a company car with CZ licence. My company just got a letter asking to reveal the identity of the driver. What would happen if the company ignored the letter? Would the Polish authorities bring the case to the court. I’m more worried about those 9 points than the fine, since I travel to Poland quite often.
19.03.2024 @ 02:18
Hi, good question. The best idea would be not to collect the letter. But the company did. If it was a Polish company the CEO of the company would be fined (probably 1600 zł no points). What happens with Czech company… I need to think. It might be a good idea for the company to point out 1 or better 2 employees that could drive this car BUT JUST POINT THEIR NAMES (no address, national number etc.). Then if the company would get another letter demanding more data – there is no legal requirement of knowing or revealing them. The law says the owner needs to reveal the identity of the person in posession of this car (remeber to be identified as a driver you need to addmit or they have to prove that you were actually driving it).
06.05.2024 @ 08:02
Hi, do you know if these letters are sent directly to mailbox or with collection from post office? Many thanks
12.05.2024 @ 19:32
We have been here in Poland in January and we are from Malta and we rent a car with green motion company, 2 weeks ago I received 2 tickets for the speed velocity a fine( attached find the photos) , about the penalty points that Are written on the paper 14 points are the same like Malta points? Because it doesn’t make sense because here in Malta to take us the licence is 12 points and here in Poland, I am seeing 24 points. If I will pay 800 pln and 300 pln the fines , the penalty points will go away? Please clarify with these because I contact the green motion and he said to contact customer care because they didn’t know about these.
19.11.2024 @ 06:15
Hi,iam Zimbabwean male,I passed a red light which wasn’t my intention and was caught by police ,and was ordered to pay 500 pln and they informed me 15 points wil be taken from my driving license, was this fair on the number of points kindly assist where should I go and contest
06.12.2023 @ 21:13
Hi, I am a Filipino, I would like to ask if do I need to inform the city office regarding change of address on my polish driver license? because I changed new apartment and the address indicated on my polish driver license was in my previous apartment. Thank you.
19.03.2024 @ 02:19
I do not think so.
23.07.2023 @ 15:08
Hello, I think i just get shot by the speeding camera today, i’m about to leaving poland in 3 days and come back in 2 months. When the letter from the office will be sent to me? I also gonna be in different address when I’m coming back. What should I do if the letter go to my previous address without me knowing that it’s already there and exceed the deadline to pay the fine?
07.11.2023 @ 01:49
No worries. Forget it. If you don’t have the fixed address in Poland you might not get it. They may or may not send it to your another address abroad if you live in the EU.
08.07.2023 @ 23:37
Well, as a Pole I find this guide a bit outdated, to say the least.
The roads’ quality improved significantly in the last 20 years, mostly due to UE financing. Most motorways are 2-lane but maintained very well. Express roads match most countries’ motorways and there is no reason why they are considered lower tier. National roads (1-2 digits) mostly have hard shoulders and very good road surface. Regional roads (3 digits) are narrower but renovated as well. In general Polish roads are much better than the ones in other Central European countries like Hungary or Slovakia, and miles ahead of Greece or Romania.
Fines are now a bit higher, not negotiable, and corruption attempts will make things worse.
Respect the rules. It’s not that difficult.
07.11.2023 @ 01:43
Fines are much higher, then before, although there is some space for negotiations (the fines are ‘from-to’ usually 20-25EUR difference). The court may give higher penalties, but very often gives a lower penalty then the police (if you reject the fine imposed y the police). The court considers the wealth of the defendant, income etc. The points are non-negotiable.
07.11.2023 @ 02:29
Sorry. Most fines with the police are no longer negotiable. The court can change it, but not the policeman.
Terje, could you please change ‘Poland in detail’ according to new regulations?
12.11.2023 @ 11:37
Hi , I think today Radar flashed on me while I am drinking 50 kmph i was driving 70 kms . I was driving my in law car. Is there any possibility to check the fine in online. And pay penalty in online.
15.03.2023 @ 07:52
loko
hello folks
i got 2 speed camera mandate that i did before 4 moths in krakow and it says 10 points for each of the mandate ( i saw something like licba punktow =10) and i lost 7 points from my driving license before this mandate , it means , when am going to pay for this mandate , i finished all of my point that i have 24 and going to lose my driving license ,,,, so , what should i do? and if i will loose my driving license , is there any possibility to get back my driving license by taking new exam? and i saw something like legalization is up to April 6 , 2023 – so can i able to pay on the mentioned date ?
Thank you so much in advance and i need urgent response
22.05.2023 @ 13:43
I would try to find a friend to receive one of those 2 tickets (and 10 points), otherwise you’ll lose you license, I think, for 3 motnhs.
14.06.2023 @ 13:56
I truly appreciate you responding, Fernando, but it’s too late since I have paid for both and didn’t inquire further about the license at that point. and who should I speak with to find out when I will be able to drive again after being prohibited as my driving license is still in my possession.
Fernando, could you please get me out of this situation?
07.11.2023 @ 01:51
OMG
15.03.2023 @ 07:51
loko
hello folks
i got 2 speed camera mandate that i did before 4 moths in krakow and it says 10 points for each of the mandate ( i saw something like licba punktow =10) and i lost 7 points from my driving license before this mandate , it means , when am going to pay for this mandate , i finished all of my point that i have 24 and going to lose my driving license ,,,, so , what should i do? and if i will loose my driving license , is there any possibility to get back my driving license by taking new exam? and i saw something like legalization is up to April 6 , 2023 – so can i able to pay on the mentioned date ?
Thank you so much in advance and i need urgent response
20.02.2023 @ 21:28
Updated fines 1.01.2023
– 1-10km/h over, 50zł, 1 point
– 11-15km/h over, 100zł, 2 points
– 16-20km/h over, 200zł, 3 points
– 21-25km/h over, 300zł, 5 points
– 26-30km/h over, 400zł, 7 points
– 31-40km/h over, 800zł, 9 points with recurrence (fine doubles, points do not)
– 41-50km/h over, 1000zł, 11 points with recurrence (fine doubles, points do not)
– 51-60km/h over, 1500zł, 13 points with recurrence (fine doubles, points do not)
– 61-70km/h over, 2000zł, 14 points with recurrence (fine doubles, points do not)
– 71+km/h over, 2500zł, 15 points with recurrence (fine doubles, points do not)
moreover – a recent Supreme Court overturned the law that made it possible to lose your license in the following cases
– going 50km/h over the limit in built up areas
– transporting more people than the amount of spaces determined in the registration of the vehicle
starting on 13.12.2023 the following will make you lose your vehicle
– drunk driving over 1,5 ‰
– causing a crash when over 0,5 ‰
– recurrence of drunk driving in a 24 month period
– for tourists – if you are not the owner of the vehicle you are driving (e.g.. renting it), you will have to pay the value of the car you were driving as a fine (the process of determining the value of a car is still in the making)
(this law will most likely be overturned by the Supreme Court due to it being contradictory with the laws of private property)
26.02.2023 @ 13:51
Exactly! Terje, maye you could change it in the table summing up?
03.03.2023 @ 07:15
Hello,
Two days ago, I was driving in bazentow ( Katowice) where I overtook a car and the police stopped me and fined me with 1500z + 15 PTS. Overtaking on a road crossing .the line was discontinuous and the road was a bit dark…
Do I have any chances if I fight this in the court as these points will remain for 2 years and I can easily lose my driving licence. Please advise. Thank you for your help.
26.09.2022 @ 10:33
Hi guys, did the fines level just went up ?
I was going +44kmh (94 in a 50 area – outside the city) and i just got the fine that is 1000 PLN … that’s twice the amount that i see here. Can someone enlighten me please ? This happened in July 2022 and got the letter last week. Please help 😉
02.12.2022 @ 09:03
From 17 september 2022 there was increases in fines:
to 10 km/h – 50 zł fine
+ 11–15 km/h – 100 zł fine
+ 16–20 km/h – 200 zł fine
+ 21–25 km/h – 300 zł fine
+ 26–30 km/h – 400 zł fine
+ 31–40 km/h – 800 zł fine (recurrence 1600 zł)
+ 41–50 km/h – 1000 zł fine (recurrence 2000 zł)
+ 51–60 km/h – 1500 zł fine (recurrence 3000 zł)
+ 61–70 km/h – 2000 zł fine (recurrence 4000 zł)
+ 71 km/h i więcej – 2500 zł fine (recurrence 5000 zł)
17.09.2022 @ 21:27
Dear Fellow Speeders,
Today is A DARK DAY for OUR COUNTRY. 83 years ago we were attacked by the Soviets and today (and on) we are attacked by our own traffic Police and their new traffic fines system. 🙁
From today on the points in the point system have been dramatically increased and the whole point system was changed (for worse).
The number of points for a regular speeding eg. on the highway was increased from 10 to 15 points (+70kmh). The number of points for regular speeding in the city (41-50kmh) was increased from 8 to 11. Point for other offences like failure to give way to pedestrians, overtaking close to a pedestrian crossing were also increased to 15 points. Talking over the phone is 12 points. 12 might also meet you if you DARE to drive accross the pedestrian crossing or on the pavement (eg. when you find your car parked blocked by another car and the only way out is one of the two). What is funny is that 15 points is as well for drunk driving, drug driving, failure to provide help to accident victims, Only 12 points is for example for violation of safety rules resulting in injuries. So if you have the choice between driving over 210 kmh on an empty highway or running over somebody with your car – they believe it’s safer to run over somebody and cause injuries to him/her, then to enjoy driving at a speed that wouldn’t even allow you to overtake everybody on a German autobahn…
Moreover, when you will be caught committing the same offence for the second time – the penalty will double. For a highway speeding of +70kmh for the first time – the penalty will be 5000PLN!! (+1000EUR).
The point limit is still 24 BUT.
1. They expire after two years not 1.
2. The 2 years start from the PAYMENT of the fine, not from receiving the ticket.
3. The points (most probably) can be assigned to the non-residents too.
4. After getting over 24 points you will not loose your licence – but will be directed to a few days of brain washing, which will clean your account (hopefully not your brain and you will not stop driving normally as you are now).
Is you reach 24 points within 24 months again – then you will loose your licence and need to take the exams (not sure about the training) again.
If you have a foreign licence, it will not be ‘taken away’ but you may be restricted from driving in Poland.
We will see how this works in practice and try to find the ways to avoid this barbaric legislation – but even if possible it will be difficult.
Be especially carefull this weekend(and week), as usually after similar changes in the law, the traffic Police start to go crazy and enjoy catching as many drivers as possible.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
(points for speeding listed below)
Przekroczenie dopuszczalnej prędkości:
E 01
– o więcej niż 70 km/h
15
E 02
– od 61 do 70 km/h
14
E 03
– od 51 do 60 km/h
13
E 04
– od 41 do 50 km/h
11
E 05
– od 31 do 40 km/h
9
E 06
– od 26 do 30 km/h
art. 92a § 1
k.w.
7
E 07
– od 21 do 25 km/h
5
E 08
– od 16 do 20 km/h
3
E 09
– od 11 do 15 km/h
2
E 10
– do 10 km/h
1
01.10.2022 @ 22:46
Hi
Indeed a dark day. I’ve arrived in Poland and friends warned me not to speed. I was super careful (had to drive from Lodz to Darłowo and back) and honestly if I drove like that in the UK I’d have halo aroundmt head and be an angel. But I had a stop over in Szczecinek and soon after I was on a minor road and it was empty, hardly any buildings and I assumed I left the village. But the police was there parked circa 100 metres BEFORE the end of teren zabudowany (the sign ending speed limit was literally behind them). There was another car parked right before them obscuring complete the view of the police car so I didn’t get any alarm bells. I was so pissed off as the guys from the other car (obscuring the police car) were clearly the policeman friends and enjoying the farse… Anyway thank god I was oy doing 70km so was 20 over limit – 200zl and 3 points. I’m pissed off but mainly concerned about the points. I think I’ve read here in the comments they do not transwo onto British driving license? Is that right? I’d be super relieved. Sadly only about 2 months ago I got polish addresses (meldunek) for legal reasons – I don’t actually live in Poland but the car was also bought and registered in my name (not sure if it matters). I don’t know Polish law much but the policeman kept asking if I’m accepting and I kept asking back what choice do I have? He got angry with me for this. Why can’t I bloody ask a question about my choices? So in the end I said yes and he found me via pesel. I’m curo what would happen if I didn’t accept? It seemed he needed to get a yes from me to proceed… When we drove off mum (80years old) said I wish I asked him to out the fine and points in my name (she still has a valid spotless Pish license). Is this a done thing? (Just exploring options for the future as I’m sure I’ll see plenty of police hidden in bushes or obscured in various ways). So frustrating as I’m just so used to slowing down for the cameras in the UK and virtuly hardly ever get tickets over there and needless to say I’ve never been stopped by the police back home
14.10.2022 @ 17:26
Dear Gisela,
Sorry to hear that. First of all Polish points have absolutely nothing to do with British points. This is a totally different system.
Unfortunately now even if you are a foreigner your Polish poinst are there (but do not mix with points from other countries).
Regarding not-accepting the fine (mandat karny). Mandat is a fine imposed on you by the policeman when you confess that you’ve done what you are accused of. If you do not confess you always may not accept the mandat. Then the police needs to file some paperwork and bring the case to the court. The court will then decide. You have different possibilities of appeal etc. If you have a Polish address this is all. If you don’t have a Polish address the case becomes more complicated (I need to double check). But you do have a Polish address.
22.02.2023 @ 18:49
Hello
I lost paper of fine, how can i pay it?
04.03.2023 @ 19:03
Hello,
Thank you for all the information your provided.
I overtook a car 3 days ago, a discontinuous lane. The crossing road wasn’t too far and I got caught by the police. 15 PTS + 1600z
I wanted to go to the court at the beginning, then decided to just pay it and move on
I’m wondering if it is worth it to fight this ticket in the court?
Also, these 15pts will stay over 2 years? What would happen if I reach 24pts.
Thank you
Nabil
29.08.2023 @ 12:54
@Potocki:
> If you have a foreign license, it will not be ‘taken away’ but you may be restricted from driving in Poland.
Actually, your foreign license WILL BE TAKEN AWAY and you will be restricted from driving in Poland (3 months, 6 on repeated offense)
I got caught by phantom police (dark grey new 2023 BMW series 3 with radar inside) outside the city, they’ve been following me silently for ~5km at ~100km/h beyond the actual city area where they made a shot.
According to the new legislation, they must take your license away and send it to the country that issued it (through the Embassy).
However, if you are a registered resident (has Meldunek), it will be delivered to the City Government (Urząd Miejski) where you can take it back once the ban expires.
16.09.2022 @ 13:52
Hi, most fines have been updated as of September 2022, does anyone know what is current penalty for not revealing the driver? I have found one source claiming up to 8000 PLN which is insane, thanks!
14.10.2022 @ 17:39
Hi Robert,
Yes and no. The penalty’s for not revealing the driver have changed and increased. Now the penalty is basically 2x the fine which would be due to the offender. Eg. if the picture shows the car speeding, for what the driver would get 1000PLN, then the fine for not revealing the driver would be 2000PLN. 8000PLN is basically when there is an accident with injured or dead involved.
HOWEVER. You are obliged to reveal who might have driven the car. YOU MAY POIN OUR A FEW DRIVERS (you don’t know who was driving then) and YOU DON’T NEED TO REVEAL THEIR ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS ETC. Even if the letter from GITD has blank spaces to fill the addresses etc. you are not obliged to do so, and the ‘quiz’ you are being sent is not 100% legal. Effectively it is very difficult to effectively fine somebody who plays it smart;y.
22.11.2022 @ 09:41
Hello!
What is best to do in my situation?
At the beginning of November I drove my wife’s Swedish company car (88km/h in a 50km/h zone somewhere outside Szczecin) and we have now received a letter home with a fine of 800PLN.
I understand that my wife has three choices;
Admit she was driving and pay a fine
Announce that she didn’t drive and that she doesn’t know who was driving (and risk a fine for not revealing the driver)
Reveal a different driver
In the picture included in the letter, my wife is visible on the passenger side but my face is not visible. I was wearing a cap and have my hand in front of my face.
02.12.2022 @ 09:18
Probably best option is for your wife to pay, casue she may have bigger consequences if company finds out you were driving.
09.01.2023 @ 16:54
Hi Gabriel, I am not visting this site very often.
First, if your wife has already got the ‘letter’ it looks to me that her company was already contacted, right?
Second, is it ok for the company that you are driving their car?
Your wife may ALWAYS not remember who was driving the car if ..the picture is blur.
Admitting that it was she who was driving when you can easily see that she is sitting next to the driver is NOT A GOOD IDEA. In some countries the owner is considered guilty and the only thing they care is a paid fine. In Poland a false testimony is a crime much more serious then speeding.
I DON’T REMEMBER is always a useful phrase.
06.08.2022 @ 21:27
Hey
I had a fine traveling out of Warsaw for +39km -800 PLN, didn’t pay at the spot but I was given a ticket just wanted to be sure of the account to pay this fine and also to confirm if they couldn’t actually do anything to me if I don’t live there but I live in Estonia
17.09.2022 @ 20:58
Hi Zamani,
As far as I know Estonia is in the EU system on information exchange about the traffic violators. It means the if you WERE STOPPED and you WERE GIVEN A TICKET and YOU DIDN’T REJECT ACCEPTING IT – you have a fine to pay. IT HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH AN ABDC QUIZ which you may get it you were caught by a SPEED CAMERA. The Polish tax office will probably ask Estonian Contact Point to reveal your address and they will start the collection procedure. Now, it is possible the the Polish tax office will mess something and fails to send the papers to Estonian CO or that if you ignore the letter you will get from Polish tax office you they will not begin the procedure (eg. because of the costs etc.). However I cannot estimate the probability. Your risk of non-payment is besically 30+ PLN of Polish debt collection cost and probably some costs on the Estonian side (which I don’t know). Depending on that costs (and your risk aversion) you may either pay now or wait and see what happens. You might pay a bit more then, but nobody is going to kill you ;-).
Speed safely!
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21.03.2022 @ 22:25
[…] Speeding Limits: http://www.speedingeurope.com/poland/ […]
12.04.2022 @ 19:59
Hi all,
I’ve been living in Poland with my friend for a few months. I’ve got a couple of 100 zl speeding tickets.
I’ve been driving my friends car; shes a polish citizen with a polish license. What is the best way for me to deal with these tickets without her getting points on her license ?
Thanks for your time
12.04.2022 @ 20:00
I’m an Irish citizen with an Irish license btw !
14.06.2022 @ 23:29
Hi Octo,
First, what do you mean ‘speeding tickets’? Were you stopped by the police at the road side? Or did she get a letter from GITD (speed camera operator)?
Second. Your friend cannot get any points for any offence that she hasn’t been found guilty to commit. If you are not a resident in Poland you cannot get any points either.
13.03.2022 @ 22:03
Hi, I received 2 speeding tickets (speed cam) exceeding 40+km/ and 50+km/h respectively. This will give me a total of 18points if I declare I was driving the car during that time. The speeding incident happened in Nov2021. With change in regulation in 2022, can I please ask if the points I will get will reset after 1 year, or 2 years? And in case I reach the 24points limit, will my driving license be revoked permanently? Or only for a limited time? Thank you
14.06.2022 @ 23:33
Hi Al,
I understand you haven’t received any SPEEDING TICKETS, but a LETTER CALLING YOU TO REVEAL THE DRIVER of the car at the moment. Right? If yes, you have no points so far.
The points reset after 365 days from committing the offence. This will change on the 17th of September 2023. Then it will be 24 months.
Let me know whether you responded anything to GITD.
12.02.2022 @ 17:30
Hello,
Bad luck on me for caught in Warsaw “build up” areas on crossing speed limits for 60km/h
The car was leasing form BMW , I am resident in Poland while not Polish Citizen , but holder of Polish Driving license.
Wondering the best solution for the case ?
The Glowny Inspektor Transportu office sent the letter of the case to BMW leasing already , with speeding data recorded by camera, then BMW forwarded the letter to me already , however I didn’t see the picture of the driver which supposed to be sent as well ?
I am aware in the case my driving license might be suspended for 3 month , that’s the least thing I am expecting.
Count on your advice here.
Thanks !
14.06.2022 @ 23:35
Hi Max,
I haven’t been here for a while. Have you responded anything to Główny Inspektor?
09.01.2022 @ 17:22
Apart from not updates fines, another thing that’s incorrect here is tolerance. In Poland there’s no such thing in a form that you may know from other countries, i.e. deduction of some amount or percent from measured speed. The only instance of tolerance is that you will not get a fine from an automatic speed camera if you exceed the speed limit by up to 10 km/h. But if you exceed by 11 km/h, you will get a fine for speeding of 11 km/h, not 1 km/h.
That being said, my experience is that it’s unlikely for the police to stop you if you’re doing less than +11 km/h, because the fine is only 50 PLN (~10 euro), and it stayed this low after recent raises.
28.12.2021 @ 18:01
there are some changes being introduced since 2022:
up to 10 km/h – 50 PLN (probably won’t be issued due to tolerance)
11-15 km/h – 100 PLN
16-20 km/h – 200 PLN
21-25 km/h – 300 PLN
26-30 km/h – 400 PLN
30-39 km/h – 800 PLN
40-49 km/h – 1000 PLN
50-59 km/h – 1500 PLN
60-69 km/h – 2000 PLN
more than 70 km/h – 2500 PLN
1000 PLN ticket is introduced for violating the overtaking ban, 500 PLN for speaking on the phone while driving.
also if the driver gets caught speeding more than 30 km/h for the second time within two years, the fine doubles. there are more points for a single violation now, and they’re being erased after 2 years since paying the ticket. you’ll still get your license revoked for speeding more than 50 km/h in urban area for 3 months.
07.01.2022 @ 15:36
Dzięki Błażej,
Yes, that’s right unfortunately. 1 January was a dark day for Polish drivers and you guys our guests.
I will double check the new point system. It maybe actually implemented from 17th of September, not from now on. It seems to me that there is still 10 points for 50kmh+ (or 70kmh +, or 230 kmh + >:-) ) and WORDs (Voivodship Traffic Examintion Centres still offer “trainings” ereasing 6 penalty points).
Will come back with details.
Speed safely and don’t get caught in New Year 2022!
Potocki
07.01.2022 @ 15:43
Terje, all the best in New Year!
It seems that in EUROPE section you still have the (good) old speedlimit for the city in Poland 50/60.
“1) 60 km/h during night from 23.00 to 05.00, ie. the limit for license withdrawal is increased to 110 kph during the night.”
I am affraid it’s already gone and it’s 50 kmh all day long… :-(.
07.01.2022 @ 16:56
If they take my license if it arrives back at my address before 3 months can I drive
10.01.2022 @ 17:53
Do you have a Polish license? If yes, then exactly. How ever you probably can drive for like 24h to get home (tbc). If you do not have a Polish license thay can take it, but they will send it to your home country. You cannot drive in Poland for 3 months, but you can drive in your home country (and anywhere else outside Poland) straight away.
23.01.2022 @ 12:20
I got stopped by the police driving 106 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone. They have given me a 1500PLN fine and they took my UK driving license away. They told me that I am suspended from driving for 3 months. I am a resident in Poland (not a Polish citizen) but I have a British passport and UK driving license. Can the police take my driving license away? And if they do will they send it to the British embassy in Poland or to UK? Or will they keep it in Poland and I will need to collect it after 3 months?
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12.11.2021 @ 18:30
[…] Speeding Limits: http://www.speedingeurope.com/poland/ […]
22.10.2021 @ 15:41
Hi
I just got a call from my landlord telling me the police were looking for me about the speed of my motorbike. He sent me a message asking me to get in contact with them. I called the no. and they said something about a particular brand of Motorcycle, and I told him I do not own one of this brand and never did. I showed them the garage where my scooter was parked and pointed out I had never owned teh brand tehy mentioned. I asked them the date and time of the record. They went away after checking the reg. After they left I wondered how they got my details so I phoned the shop of the brand they named and they reminded me I had done a 1 hour demo drive on one of their bikes (it was awful). They had been asked by the police to provide details of the driver and had given my details. The shop said it was in relation to excess speed, they sent me the demand they received for driver ID but there are no details about the offence how it was measured and the level of claimed over speed. What I don’t understand is why they did not issue a fixed penalty notice and only a notice to identify the driver. Does this mean something serious and what can happen next? please advise what the likely outcome will be?
15.10.2021 @ 03:08
I went on a trip to Poland in August and I saw surprisingly few people speeding (en route from Bialystok to Warsaw only myself and one bike was doing ~200), a similar situation for Warsaw-Krakow. People tend to (oh my!) use mirrors and move from the left lane as soon as you approach them.
I was wondering about the ten-fold increase in fines. If the data I have is correct, it was planned but not implemented, right? So as a non-EU citizen the max I can get on a freeway is still 500zl, isn’t it?
Thanks.
29.10.2021 @ 16:25
Alex, ten-fold increase in fines? Where? Not in this place. The fine for speeding above 51kmh over the allowed speedlimit is 400 PLN to 500 PLN. It doesn’t matter if it was 51kmh over or 200kmh over. Of course for 51kmh (eg. 151kmh in a 100 kmh zone) you more probably get 400 PLN then 500 PLN and for doing 100kmh over your are more likely to get a 500 PLN, but that is pretty much it. If you realy push thing to the limit like driving 100kmh in a 30 kmh pedestrian zone with kids playing (or get drunk and drive a bus full of people), you would be stopped and your case sent to the court, where you can get more, but that’s no longer speeding. That would be ‘posing a threat of a catastrophy in land traffic’ and may bring you to prisson. The fines are planned to increase. The maximum for speeding was said to increase from 500 PLN to 1500PLN, and the threshold moved from 50kmh to 30 kmh. Now the draft is in parliamentary commission, and they moved from 1500 PLN to 800PLN. Honestly speeking its possible that the parliament would lower that a bit more, ore move the threshold back to 50kmh o 40kmh. The deputies in the parliament (opposite to id…s in the Ministry) do care what their electorate will say. 😉 And the electorate (especially from smaller towns) likes to speed ;-).
You are right many people aren’t speeding these days. Some research shows over 60% regularly going over the allowed speed limits. 15 years ago it was 96% 😉
And yes, we don’t have a different tariff for different nationalities. =D the penalties are the same except the ones tghat cannot technically be imposed on a foreigner (eg. you cannot have penalty points if you are not in the system, you cannot get your license susspended outside Poland if the license is not from Poland etc.).
Białystok to Warsaw, its a nice highway. It maybe congested, but it includes the longest straight part of the highway in the country (over 15km with no turns). I sometimes see a 3 digit on my speedometer there 😉
Speed safely!
28.09.2021 @ 20:33
I was flashed about 2 years ago at night with a rental car (Swiss driver’s license, Swiss resident). I have received a letter from the rental company about 1.5 months later, saying that they will charge me an admin fee for processing the documents needed that are being requested by the police or equivalent. Since then, I haven’t heard anything or received anything.
I am now about to go to Poland again, and am in the process of renting a car. One of the questions I received from the rental company is if I have a “clean” driver’s license. In Switzerland, there is no points system and I honestly don’t know when was the last time I got a ticket… it was definitely some years ago (ca. 2014).
My question is… do points remain on foreign driver’s licenses or in the polish records? Should I proactively reach out to the rental company to ask what happened with this, if anything? Contact the Polish police, or embassy to make sure? Not sure how else I can check, but I don’t want to arrive only to be told I can’t rent a car because I have an unpaid fine somewhere or something…
12.10.2021 @ 00:47
Dear Jupo,
Don’t be proactive. It never helps. Yes, you have a clean driving license probably both in Poland and Switzerland. As you are not a Polish citizen nor Polish resident you probably cannot have points in Poland. Second to have an ‘unclean’ record you need to be fined under your name. If you haven’t received any fine o rletter from the police not haven’t admited to any offence in front of the police or court – you are not guilty.
12.10.2021 @ 01:35
And Jupo, after 2 years there should be a time bar on traffic offences.
19.09.2021 @ 06:13
Hey 🙂
I’ve got a speeding ticket of 500zl. I got a letter in my house, my wife signed that I have received it, asking to identify the driver and remove 10 points of the license.
I have few options in this letter: “Confess it was me” and pay the fine
Confess it was somebody else and pay the fine
I don’t remember who the driver was but still pay the fine
I don’t remember who the driver was and I won’t pay for the fine and I’m willing to go to the court.
What should I do? I’m resident in Poland and my driving license is Polish.
Hope to hear from you soon
12.10.2021 @ 00:56
Hi Johny,
You have basicaly 2 options (I assume that you don’t want to get both points and fine). If you don’t feel comfortable in going to the court you should choose: “I don’t remember who the driver was but still pay the fine”. The fine is however not for speeding but for not revealing the driver. It’s 500 PLN but no points. If you are comfortable with going to the court and you think that the picture from speedcamera wasn’t very detailed (eg. high angle, sun shield down etc.) you may choose “I don’t remember who the driver was and I won’t pay for the fine and I’m willing to go to the court. “. Then they will probably call you to the court where you can say that you don’t remeber who was driving. If the picture won’t show your identity – you will be acquitted with no fine. If the picture will show your face the court will ‘remind’ you who was driving and will give you a fine (eg. 500). You may then get the points if you are Polish resident.
All the best!
18.09.2021 @ 23:26
Hi, yesterday I was going 170kph in a 50kph limit. The car is not mine, it is a rent car. What is the penalty in such cases, I see no one have mentioned going 120 over the limit
12.10.2021 @ 01:13
Hi Faisal,
First, congratulations, unless there were pedestians around (then not)!! 170kmh in 50kmh. I hope it was a wide road just entering the city. B-). Hopefully it is still a minor offence here. If you were in the city the penatly is: 500 PLN, 10 penalty points and driving license revocation for 3 months. If you were in the country: the penalty most likely will be 400 PLN, 10 penalty points. You are then keeping your license. If you are not a Polish resident, the driving license is not revoked but you have a driving ban for 3 months. One question however. Have you been caught? You are asking – so probably there was a speedcamera. If so they need to send papers to the rental company, then rental company to you, then you need to get it, repply or not, reveal the identity of the driver or not…. If you are not a Polish resident you may be far away by then… Generaly speeding over 50 kmh over the limit you get the same fine whether it is 51 kmh over the limit or 151 kmh over the limit. Theoreticaly they could call you to the court and accuse you for posing the danger of a catastrophe in traffic, but it rarely happens and people rarely get sentenced (if you did it in the city with many people around this might be the case). Anyway. If you are away you should be fine. If I were you I would however call your bank and block the credit card you used for guarantee while renting the car. It may or may not help depending on the amount blocked and banking procedures.
27.07.2021 @ 10:16
Hi there,
I got information from my company that they received an average speed violation for the car dedicated to my name. It is back from April 2021 and it just arrived to the company. It is 72 in a 50 zone. I am a Turkish citizen but I exchanged my drivers license to Polish at the end of 2020. I checked the camera shots and the driver is not visible (and I really do not remember driving in that area but anyways). My company told me that I will receive some documents from the police so I should wait. I already have a ticket for speeding caught by this famous Opel Insigna turbo 2 months ago. Got 4 points and it is visible online in the system. I really do not want to have another 4 points so is it possible to avoid the points by simply saying that I do not remember driving at that time at the place of the camera? I do not have any problem paying the fine but I would like to avoid the points. Funny part is I’ve been driving in Poland for more than 1.5 years with a Turkish license and I received nothing or I was never stopped but after exchanging my license I started to get tickets :). What do you recommend to do here? Thanks
13.08.2021 @ 09:24
Dear Aelius,
You are perfectly right. If you get the letter and you will state that you don’t remember who was driving the car (and you accept the fine) you should have no points and a 500 PLN fine. You could also state that you don’t remember who was driving the car (and you DON’T accept the fine), but then the case goes to the court and your company might be called to reveal the car usage policies etc. So option no 1 looks better. By the way, why have you changed the license?? In the EU it’s always better to have a licence from OUTSIDE the EU. My friend who’s got a Polish one and a South African one always shows the Polish one in South Africa and South African in Poland.
11.06.2021 @ 01:46
Some info with regards to traffic enforcement 2021:
1) All active traffic enforcement cameras are painted yellow (stationary/avg. speed/red-light).
2) All speed measuring cameras are marked with a blue sign ca.100m before.
3) No speed cameras on motorways and expressways (excl. ramps)
4) Hidden/mobile speed cameras are not allowed.
5) Use of GPS traffic camera database is allowed (very popular in PL is an online app “Yanosik”)
6) Speedtraps use almost exclusively lidar these days. Mainly used in built up areas or speed restricted roads. Usually one trap per 100-200km. Not used on motorways or expressways.
7) Unmarked police vehicles have cameras in front and back and no radar. Always 2 persons inside and some odd small antenas. These days most of the “high speed” fleet are BMW 330i (sedan/gt) or Opel Insignia turbo sometimes KIA Stinger. Usually one per 200km. Google “nieoznakowane” for full list. In cities anything can be an unmarked car Skoda rapid, opel Astra, Ford Focus.
8) Lately more pressure is put on pedastrian crossing violations (right of way/overtaking).
19.07.2021 @ 01:54
Good to hear that somebody else is also active 🙂
One thing. Now the speed limit in the city is 50 not 50 (day)/60(night) unfortunately.
So it’s also the 3m drive ban from 101 in a 50 zone.
Speed safely!
19.09.2021 @ 16:43
What’s the worst that can happen if I crash at 158kph in a 50 and report to the police. All I hit was a caution sign. The breathalyzer gave a 0.03 result.
12.10.2021 @ 01:32
0.03=(0,3%) or 0.03=(0,03%) or 0.03=(0,003%)? Drunk driving here is WAY MORE SERIOUS THING then speeding. Allowed limit is 0,02% from 0,02% to 0,05% it is considered an offence. All above 0,05% is considered a crime with prison sentence involved. If you were 0,003% – it doesn’t matter. If you were 0,03% you have committed an offence of driving under influence of alcohol and if you hit something probably also causing a threat to traffic. If you had 0,3% you are in trouble. On top of that you have speeding. Speeding is 500 PLN, 10 points if you are a resident and 3 months driving ban (if it was in town). Causing the threat in traffic would be probably another 500 PLN or so + some points. The DUI is the most serious thing if you were 0,03% or 0,3%. If you haven’t hit any car or person it should be a fine not a prison sentence, but it is administered by the court.
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08.06.2021 @ 09:25
[…] Speeding Limits: http://www.speedingeurope.com/poland/ […]
02.06.2021 @ 01:10
Dear Fellow Drivers,
Today is a sad day for Polish drivers and anybody who drives through our country.
1. From the 1st of June on, the speed limit in the city is decreased to 50 kmh (unless differently marked) all day long (previously it was 50- 6:00-23:00 and 60 23:00-6:00). We have then brought our city speed limit to the same numbers as the rest of EU.
2. The other important and bad change coming into force today is the priority on the pedestrian crossing. Until yesterday the car (bicycle, motorbike etc.) had priority over the pedestrian when the pedestrian was still on the pavement. The pedestrian was gaining priority at the moment of stepping onto pedestrian crossing. Then it was the car that was supposed to give way. It was very logical as jumping onto the tarmac in front of the car was forbidden, but when the pedestrian was already on the crossing, the car (traffic) was supposed to yield. Now the driver has to oversee the behaviour of pedestrians on the pavement, because even if any of them suddenly decides to cross the road in front of the car going, the car needs to give way to the pedestrian (and potentially stop instantly agains the laws of physics). I would then advise you to be very careful as pedestrians have gained a new law which some of them may use in quite irresponsible way. Definitely there will be some pedestrians that will want to try out this new law by suddenly stepping onto the tarmac in front of the car (I will happen – believe me!). I would be especialy careful in small towns and viallges where pedestrian crossing are often close to grocery (alcohol) stores and churches where people normaly gather. You may not know whether 3 folks drinking beer which are standing under the shop are chit-chatting having their 5th beer this day or they are about to cross the road. Same with kids which sometimes play very close to the road in villages. That makes our traffic much different from eg. Scandinavian countries where similar laws are established, but the driving conditions are very different.
3. The other thing that has changed (this time for good I believe) it’s banning of tailgating. While driving on the highway you should keep the distance between you and the preceeding car of at least half of your speed in meters (so if you are going 140 kmh – it’s 70 meters; if you are going 240 kmh – its 120 meters, if you are going 340 kmh it would be 170 meters (although iin this case I would advise at least 500 m 😉 ) etc..)
4. The fourth thing worth mentioning (although it’s been in place for some time already) is the Ziper Rule. If there are two lanes (or more) and one is merging into the other, the car that is on the lane that stays is supposed to yield ONE car from the lane that dissapears in front of him. It’s generaly an exception from the rule that the traffic entering the lane yields to traffic which is already on that lane. Before it was the metter of good manners to let others from merging lanes in, now it’s the law. Be careful however. Some drivers may not know it or just be suckers. The same is with driving on two lanes not allowing others to overtake you and be able to join your lane in front of you. Such road blocking is (and was) illegal and hopefully the police starts doing something with it.
Speed safely!
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25.05.2021 @ 22:29
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19.01.2021 @ 10:54
Hello, I got a Mandate for overspeeding – But I lost that mandate – is there another way I can pay the fine without the mandate?
This is very important as it could lead to further problems – please let me know
03.03.2021 @ 17:58
Hi Chirag, yes you can, but what was it Mandat Karny that you got from the police and you accepted it? Do you live in Poland?
10.01.2021 @ 21:56
Hey, I was driving on S10 today and the radar flashed me. I passed that road in the past during the day and I can’t remember the flash..
Does it flashes every car or just the owns which are speeding? I think I was going around 70 where limit was 50km.
Any advice what I should expect? 🙂
13.01.2021 @ 20:24
Hi Vlan, the radar flashes only when you exceed the allowed speed by certain kmh margin (usually 10-20 kmh). So if the limit is eg. 50 kmh the radar will flash when y ou are going 60 kmh or more.
If the car is yours you may get a letter demanding you to reveal the driver of your car in that moment. Look at posts below. Rule no 1 do not confess. Rule no 2 if you don’t get any letter don’t do anything.
Speed safely!
13.11.2020 @ 20:52
Well I just got stopped by two traffic officers in Poland, I was doing 117kph in a 50kph.. I am not making excuses but the road was a dual carriageway with no domestic properties anywhere near it and no signs indicating what the limit was, it honesty felt like a 70kph/100kph road and so yes I was speeding…
One officer was great very talkative and spoke great English the other was awful, very rude.. and dismissive.. told me I am in Poland I should speak Polish.. at which I replied in almost fluent Polish because my wife is a Pole I have been learning for 8 years, it didn’t help.. he then started on about the car its very powerful, how many horses does it have… its an expensive car.. the guy hated me cause I’m English and disliked me more because my car was nice… and he made that quite obvious. He went through the whole car looking for other issues he could site me for..
Anyway, long story short they took my license off me.. there and then and fined me 500pln. I told them I am driving through Poland to Germany and then on to France and then home to the UK.. he said “not my problem” we have taken your license you are allowed to drive in Poland for 48hrs.. and that’s it. If you want it back you have to ask your DVLA in UK for it back after 3 months… there is some possibility that you can contact our local police office and ask them to send it to your embassy and you can collect it from them in 3 months. He wasn’t particularly clear on that and left me next to my car without a license and short 500pln.. So now I have to contact a lawyer in Poland on Monday to find out what I need to do.
05.01.2021 @ 17:32
Hi Simon,
I am very sorry to hear that. You were doing 117 at a 50 zone, so the fine itself is within the legal limits, but the behaviour of that policeman was BELOW ANY STANDARD. Saying that in Poland you should speak Polish looks fashist to me. Sorry for that (even if have nothing to do with Polish police). Now the driving license. You have been taken away your driving license and prohibited from driving for 3 months IN POLAND. At best of my knowledge netiher Polish police, not Polish court, not the COUNTY EXECUTIVE (who technicaly suspends the right to drive) can deprive you from the right of driving in the UK or anywhere else. Your driving license (and your other documents) are a property of your government (or technicaly probably HM the Queen in the UK). It cannot be held by Polish county executive. Foreign documents if ceized are being sent to proper authorities abroad. There is no need for a Polish lawyer for you I guess.
If I were you I would rather concenctrate on your situation in Britain. I don’t know the UK law on driving. I doubt that British DVLA would stop you from driving because somebody in a foreign jurisdiction has done so, but it’s my guess not knowledge. Check British law and maybe see a British lawyer (or maybe talk to smb at Royal Automobile Club, they should know exactly). You can also maybe talk to DVLA, but sometimes talking to the authorities may bring more harm than profit.
All the best! (and speed safely)
22.05.2021 @ 12:50
Hey, You should know that it is illegal that the Polish authorities took your license. They are allowed to take Polish licenses only for 3 months, but since yours was foreign they can only AND only issue you 3 month driving ban in the particular country, NOTHING else. In other word you keep your license, you are legal to drive, BUT not in Poland, for at least 3 months. I sincerely hope, that you got everything back, and it is common for them to be angry and jealous. I am experiencing the same thing in Poland, as I drive 2020 Audi S7 (in sporty red, with red leather seats, sick af car) with polish number plates (as I am partly owner of a lets say wealthy company) and usually poles get mad at me that I don’t speak their language, but it is what it is. I’m trying to learn it, anyway. It is just common for people to be jealous, and I just got used to and know how to act. From my personal experience, I have learned that those kind of people usually try to show their dominance the moment you show them you don’t speak their language, but it get’s easily in hand in the moment you show them, that you know they are in wrong and resist completely to what they say. Anyway, I sincerely hope, that you got your licenses back brother, and you know that from now on, that they cannot take your licenses at all for even driving drunk. Anyway don’t do that, just saying :D. Seriously, don’t :D.
31.10.2020 @ 17:56
Hi, sorry if this post will appear twice. I have posted yesterday but it has disappeared.
I was in Poland last month, driving a rental vehicle.
I live in UK and have uk driving licence. I have just received a penalty of 300pln and 6 points. Didn’t sign for the letter as it just appeared in my mailbox and didn’t reply to it yet.
Please advice me what to do? I’m a bit terrified of those 6 points as in uk you can only have 12. And it will mean a massive charge on my insurance.
I’ll be great full for any advice.
Regards,
Kamil
30.10.2020 @ 14:31
Hi, I’ve just got a speeding ticket in Poland. I live in UK. Was going 86km on 50km limit in a rental car, the fine is 300zl and 6 points on my license. I have not reply to the letter yet.
My question is, what is the best way to act now?
And also does 6 points in Poland equal 6 points in UK, knowing that in UK you can get 12 points total on your license and in Poland is 24 from what i have read.
Please help, the fine is not a problem but 6 points on my license will increase my insurance drastically.
Regards,
Kamil
30.10.2020 @ 14:51
Btw i did not sign for the letter, it just arrived to my letter box.
Please advise
05.01.2021 @ 17:16
Czesc Kamil,
The key issue is whether you repplied to the letter and confessed or not. If you haven’t – DON’T CONFESS or even don’t repply. Only an identified driver can be fined for speeding. It’s not enough that the rental company revealed that you were the rentee. You ‘need’ to confess to be charged for speeding. You can be however fined for ‘not revealing the driver of the car you rented’. It’s usualy 300 PLN or so with no points. Now if you live in the UK the best idea would probably be not to sign any letter. The probability that somebdy will try to impose and collect the fine for not revelaing the driver is relatively low.
And maybe the most IMPORTANT THING FOR YOU. POLISH POINTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BRITISH POINTS. These are different systems. So don’t worry for your insurance.
And speed safely! 🙂
24.07.2020 @ 15:40
Hello,
We were crossing the Polish-German border when we got pulled over by a Polish officer. He said we were speeding and got a 100zl fine. I don’t care about the fine, I’ll take that any day of the week compared to the prices in the Netherlands, but after giving me my license registration and driving license back, he wanted to know how many km were on the dash and wrote it down in his notebook. I’m really wondering how that information would help him in any way and if it’s common for Polish officers to do that? Hope you can answer this question.
Kind regards from the Netherlands
25.09.2020 @ 14:03
Hi
It is to prevent mileage fraud. It has become a criminal offence to lower the mileage on a car here. So if you or someone else will be in Poland with this car and it will have a lower mileage there will be trouble.
11.10.2020 @ 10:36
Recording the car’s odometer reading is a new rule which was implemented in order to fight dishonest used car dealers who like to “reduce” the mileage.
28.10.2020 @ 10:29
As of this year police has to check the odometer during every control, as backing up the odometers in Poland was very common and they wanted to stop that, now you can go to prison for backing up the odometer.
22.11.2020 @ 21:04
Idk why he did it, but don’t worry. Due to increased number of odometer manipulations done by shady car salesmen(they buy used cars in EU with high mileage, “correct” it and then sell the same car with profit) polish police now checks your odometer every time they catch you, and they later put it in the database along with your license plate and date. If anything, just always make sure the policeman wrote it down correctly- if they later check you and you’ll have lower mileage than previously, you’re in for some big trouble(for falsing the odometer one might end up with a significant fine or even end up in jail). Cheers
12.12.2020 @ 23:01
It mandatory now because of criminals clocking used cars especially in Poland. I heard on the radio recently a Mondeo was sold with 56,000km and it had done 700,000km.. it’s a real problem in Poland so now they register the mileage and if at some point they stop a car with less mileage than previously recorded you or the person you bought it from has a real problem.
04.03.2020 @ 22:02
Was in Poland like 3 weeks ago. Renal car that my colleague fixed. He called me today said rental company got ticket for speeding 102 on 50 road. I was really careful driving and cannot remind me where this happens. They say fee is 320eur and pic taken from behind. My colleague will pick up documents tomorrow. What do you suggest? Will I also loose driving license in Sweden.. this feel terrible since I am aways driving really careful. I must totally missed a 50 road but I actually don’t think so…
01.05.2020 @ 00:06
Easy Mr K. First I do not think you will loose your Swedish license. You may be forbidden to drive for 3 months in Poland (unless Sweden has a specific law which I am not aware of). You may, but they need to proof that you were driving. What kind of documents has your colleague picked up? Have you signed anything? (better not)
28.08.2020 @ 20:53
Hi,
Thank you fo your reply. My polish colleague never picked up the documents and send to me. I have not heard anything about this since then. No he is leaving the company. And today he sent me an email. It’s soon seven month ago and told me. Rental company got third reminder now for rental company to release the name of the driver so they can give it to legal office. He claimed for the home adress to me. I gave it today so let’s see if I get any documents. The thing is he Still claim picture is from behind of rental car. What if I deny? I have Still not signed anything. Since I haven’t seen any documents at all. In beginning of March he told me I have three month to pay ticket and then I didn’t hear anything I think it’s strange he came up with it now.. almost 7 month later.
30.08.2020 @ 13:35
My colleague never came back to me after picking it up. Now almost 7 month later he say that rental company got third reminder to give the name of driver. I gave my adress now so let’s see if I get the documents here. What do you suggest. The thing is my colleague leaves the company now cause of some issues. But he claimed my name must be released else he will get the ticket since he was on the contract for rental car. I think it’s strange it have. Been so long time and I waited for colleague to update me but he have not mentioned anything over those 7months since he mentioned first time.
28.10.2020 @ 10:34
The highest fine you can get for speeding is 500 PLN about 120 EUR, if this was built up area you will be banned from driving in Poland for 3 months, but if they have no proof of you driving (unless rental company says it was you driving as only you were permitted to do so) you can pay 500 PLN fine for not telling who was driving.
19.12.2019 @ 15:47
Hello,
I was in Poland in summer, and just went with a rent car over the limit by 20, They just send me a letter to fill some form and send it back and its said I have to pay 200 zlotyk fine,. What should I do??? There is no information how to pay.
21.04.2020 @ 19:21
Vaiva, I would advice you to do….nothing. Have you send the form back or not?
25.10.2019 @ 20:05
Hello
Two month ago I was in Poland I was taking over a lorry and then come back to my line I got cough by camera I am sure it wasn’t a town but who know speed was 110-120km/h any way after some kilometres I seen policemen and stopped to ask what’s will happen and bla bla bla
So he said what they have speed cameras in towns only and if I was doing 110_120 and will cough by policemen I will loose my license and banned for driving in poland for 3 month. So any way its nearly 3month and I still don’t get ticket I living in UK and planning on December travel cross Poland
Question is
Will policemen can stop me and say what I have unpaid ticket or am banned from driving in Poland or if I didn’t get ticket so mean I will not gonna get it and everything is fine?
21.04.2020 @ 19:20
Hi, I havent’t been here for a while…
Justin. As far as I understand: you have been caught by a speed camera that made you a picture while speeding 110-120kmh in or outside of the citylimits. Nobody has handed you the speeding ticket, nobody knows it was actually you. Is that right?
If so then you shouldn’t worry. Who owns the car you were driving? In Poland the only person that can be punished is the driver for traffic offence. The owner of the car can only be punished for not revealing the identity of the driver. To forbid you driving they need to know your identity (not just car’s plate number) and to have at least a slight proof that you were the driver.
08.10.2020 @ 20:56
Hello sir, i had over speeding in Germany, it was 80 speedy limit on german highway, but i was on 110. So i was exceeded 30 speed limit than actual speed. I have polish driving lincense.
Now german police send fine to me directly or by polish police? They will charge me like police rules or German rules of violation??
Thanks
16.10.2019 @ 14:05
Hello, if somebody wish to pass Polish driving license exam I recommend that https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=prawo.jazdy.testy&hl=en
19.08.2019 @ 14:36
Hi everyone,
When I’m driving on the A4 motorway through the Katowice region I frequently see drivers occupying the middle lane when the slow lane is perfectly clear. Often the excuse is that they are ‘not in the way’ when drivers are joining the road. Now I know this is not true as one student who was preparing for his test confirmed that the middle and outside lanes are purely for overtaking only. Now I should point out that I use the slow lane while cruising, but often overtake, sometimes having to move into the outside lane as I’m catching up with a middle lane hogger! What I’d like to know is what are the penalties for being caught ‘middle lane hogging’ in Poland or are the police not bothered?
Also, on more than one occasion I’ve seen fixed police traps on the motorway, with officers sticking out their lollypops to pull drivers up onto the hard shoulder. Isn’t this illegal? Isn’t the hard shoulder meant to be used only for emergencies, or again, is Poland an exception?
16.08.2019 @ 23:32
Ok a bit of clarification and up to date details on Polish roads.
1) Use Yanosik app or waze (or both) for best speedcam/police avoidance. GPS Apps are fully legal. On average you can expect a patrol every 200km. (More in built up areas, less on highway)
2) Radar and laser detectors are illegal to use (legal to have).
3) Unmarked vehicles are newer. Vectra and Megane is a rare sight these days. Currently on highway it’s mostly BMW 330i xdrive (some GT) or Insignia turbo. They also have few exotic ones (kia stinger, focus st).
4) Speed cameras are clearly marked. They started installing average speed cams lately but they are marked too.
5) No speed cameras on highways/express ways (excluding ramps).
6) Point system is for Polish citizens only. If you are a foreigner you only pay fine… unless you breach the 50kph rule or alcohol rule.
Useful links:
Up to date speedcams:
https://antyradary.phi.pl/mapa_fotoradarow/
Up to date Unmarked vehicles:
https://antyradary.phi.pl/mapa_fotoradarow/video.php
28.10.2019 @ 16:22
Hi Marek, its very helpful. I have a question, is there online way to check the points remaining on polish license?
22.06.2020 @ 15:32
Hello I am a Turkish student that lives in wroclaw. Today I cought speeding. I was going 140 in a 40 zone. I admit, I was fast but that 40 zone is nonsense anyways.. Policeman stopped me and gave me 400zl ticket and took my licence for 3 months.. Is there a way to have it back or do I need to wait 3 months without the car?
28.10.2020 @ 10:42
You have to wait 3 months, if you don’t the period is extended to 6 months, if they catch you the second time in that period you lose it permanently, unless your driving license isn’t Polish, then you can’t lose it, and you are banned from driving only in Poland
10.06.2019 @ 00:04
Hello everyone,
I have a huge problem. I passed the speed limit 6 times at same place in different days in a month and I have Turkish driving license and as far as I know from polish police I could drive for 6 months after I come from Turkey so this situation happened 3 months later when I came from Turkey. I filled 4 of these fines with my information and i did not fill 2 of these fines because I thought they could get my driving license and it was company car and in these documents there was section like company do not know who was driving at that moment and in this case pay more money so it seemed like better solution than losing driving license. Later 2 fine document came which i was filled with my name and i paid these fines. Later on they sent these 2 fines which I have not put my name and demand from company to put someone`s name who could drive so I had to write my name to these fines too. Since a month we did not get a any post or anything. What can happen in these situation? What is the worst scenario of this situation?
19.06.2019 @ 18:57
Hi Koray,
I do not quite understand what you’ve written. When were you caught by speedcamera? How many papers revealing the driver you have filled? Is the company Polish/Turkish? Is it yours or you simply work there? Are you a CEO of this company? Where do you live? (Poland Turkey?). Do you drive often in Poland?
First of all IF YOU ARE GETTING THIS QUESTIONAIRE and YOU ARE LIVING IN POLAND most of the time it’s BETTER NOT TO REVEAL THE DRIVER. If you live outside Poland, especially outside EU the best way is NOT TO ANSWER THEM AT ALL. You may refuse to tell who the driver was and pay the fine for not revealing the driver or sometimes do not pay anything. The problem with companies is that if a company fails to reveal the driver the fine for no producing drivers identity goes to the CEO. If you are a CEO or you know him well it’s not a problem. If not sometimes it can be problematic.
Second: in Poland you can only get a drive ban if: you were driving more than 50kmh over the limit in the city ONLY; you’ve accumulated more than 24 penalty points; you were driving intoxicated; the court of justice has sentenced you for a drive ban. I don’t understand why you expect to loose your driving license. Points?
Third: as far as I know points are given only to people officially living in Poland. Do you live in Poland? If you are not registered here you shouldn’t get any points.
Fourth: If you want to put smb’s name instead of yours try to do it with your family/frineds that DO NOT live in Poland. They may get a letter, but THEY SHOULDN’T ANSWER IT. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN THEN.
I hope that helps a little, but would be easier if I knew more of you.
24.06.2019 @ 10:04
I was caught in March. The speed cameras on my work way i was passed speed limit in different days 5 times. At first i have filled 2 of fines with my name and not filled 3 of them. They sent bill for this 2 fine which i have filled and i paid those 2 fine then they sent those 3 fine back which i have not filled to my company and asked for putting someone`s name who could be driving. I have filled these 3 fine with my name and sent back to them. It is a Turkish company but legal in Poland. I work in this company. I am not the CEO. I live in Poland since 4 years, I study and work here, i dont have permanent residence permit but I have temporary residence card due to work and school till 2021. Yes i drive in Poland since 1 year often. I did not know that if I could refuse to tell who was driver but after i submit documents traffic office sent back fines to my company and asked for a name and my company said we should write it so i did unfortunately. I dont know the law in Poland and also i do not have polish driving license, i have turkish so I have thought they may get my license or driving ban as you said. At last i think its late to refuse that the driver was not me because i have put my name and sent documents 2 months ago. For how long they may give driving ban in this case? In fines to reveal driver and not reveal the driver fee was 500 zl for each fine. Do you think they may charge me more?
Thank you so much for your help. Really appriciate.
26.05.2019 @ 12:43
Hi.
I am soon to riding my bike in Poland. Are all speed-cameras in Poland proporly notified by the blue traffic-sign that says “Fotoradar”. And, if I get cought by the police and have to pay on the spot, will they accept payment by card?j
19.06.2019 @ 17:54
Yup! There has to be a blue sign and the speed camera has to be painted yellow. The old grey ones are inactive. If you get caught by the police you have to pay on spot. I do not know whether they accept cards.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
23.05.2019 @ 15:40
Hello to everybody,
I’ve got a situation to solve, and would like to ask you for help.
In August 2018 I was in Poland for one month with a couple of friends. I’m from Italy and my friends are from Spain. We rented a car to visit the country, and took a fine for speed limit (it was dark and I didn’t notice the sign of “build-up area”). I was running at 95 km/h with the limit of 50km/h. The car was rented on the name of one of my firends, but I was driving it while we took the fine.
Nevertheless, the first letter arrived to my friend in Spain and she answered that she wasn’t the driver and filled in my information in the request form. Then a letter arrived to me in Italy, so I answered it confirming that I was the driver. I was expecting a second letter, with the paying details but nothing arrived so far. I’m afraid that I missed the post and it was sent back, it’s already more 2 month since the first letter arrived.
Could you please advise me what should I do? Just wait or there is an email that I can write to for more information?
19.06.2019 @ 17:52
Hi Bogdan,
Relax and enjoy Italian summer. Thay may have not yet send you anything (yet). If they send it than you can pay. If they don’t do not pay. Even if they sent it and you missed it, I doubt whether they will try to force you to pay. Even if they do, there should be no major costs. There are no interest from fines. The Polish execution cost is around 30 PLN and that’s what they add up if they need a debt collector to get the money from your bank account in Poland.
By the way: you might have not answered the letter.
Best
P
22.05.2019 @ 14:20
Hi Potocki
You seem to have a lot of knowledge about the traffic laws.
I have a question for your :
On 24/05/2019 i was caught by the police overspeeding inside the town, i was driving 104km on a 50km on a rental car.
First time in Poland and i was distracted.
My driving license is Icelandic, i paid 400zl and the police took my driving license away.
The driving license should be arriving to Iceland next week by mail to the Icelandic District Commissioner of Reykjavik.
My question is :
Will i loose my driving license for 3months even if the crime was commited in another country like in Poland.
Will i get my driving license back as soon as it arrives in Iceland or will i not be able to drive for 3months?
Thanks.
19.06.2019 @ 17:30
Hi Alexandre,
I am not a specialist on Icelandic traffic rules, but my understanding is that Polish police has taken over you license to prevent you from driving in Poland. They cannot prohibit you driving anywhere else unless you Icelandic police/traffic office would say that THEY (Iceland) take your driving license away because you’ve committed a traffic offense. I highly doubt so. I think you will get your license as soon as it gets to Iceland and you will be (or maybe you already can even if your license is technicaly not there) to drive anywhere except Poland.
Actually I need to double check whether you as a foreign license holder are prohibited from driving in Poland for that 3 months… Technically if a Pole is caught speeding more than 50 kmh over the limit in the city the procedure is as follows:
The Police takes the document from you and gives you a paper enabling you to drive for some time 24 or 48 hours;
Then the county mayor (Starosta) makes the decission on keeping you license in custody and prohibiting you to drive for 3 months. (the decission is made automatically, but is technicaly made by the Police).
Because of that I am not sure whethere your Icelandic driving license has ever seen any Polish county mayor and whether that person is entitled to forbid you driving in Poland. I need to check that!
19.04.2019 @ 14:23
Hello everyone,
I’m from Lithuania (LT driving license). Last week I was visiting Poland with a car which isn’t registered under my name (it’s my relative’s). I was driving near Różan at 107 km/h. However, I didn’t notice the sign of “build-up area” and the radar in yellow box with antenna flashed me. As it was daytime, this means I was speeding 57 km/h over the speed limit! Wow, that was a really dumb mistake due to being too tired and not noticing the sign 🙁
Could anyone familiar with Polish laws and procedures shine a bit of light into my case please? What to expect, what are the actions govenrnment will take? Is there any chance that the owner of the car will be driving in Poland again and get stopped by the police due to this violation? What are the time limits now in Poland for identifying the driver and assigning the fine? How much is the fine for this violation? Will it include suspension of license? Please assist, this is my first ever speeding violation and I feel really scared.
Thank you!
28.10.2020 @ 10:54
It will suspend license for 3 months in Poland, but if owner decides not to reveal the driver and pays 500 PLN you would pay either way for speeding nothing happens to your license. Btw remember to always slow down in Różan, not only for the speed camera, but also police likes to stand there
19.04.2019 @ 09:44
Hello everyone,
I’m from Lithuania (LT driving license). Last week I was visiting Poland with a car which isn’t registered under my name (it’s my relative’s). I was driving near Różan at 107 km/h. However, I didn’t notice the sign of “build-up area” and the radar in yellow box with antenna flashed me. As it was daytime, this means I was speeding 57 km/h over the speed limit! Wow, that was a really dumb mistake due to being too tired and not noticing the sign 🙁
Could anyone familiar with Polish laws and procedures shine a bit of light into my case please? What to expect, what are the actions govenrnment will take? Is there any chance that the owner of the car will be driving in Poland again and get stopped by the police due to this violation?
What are the time limits now in Poland for identifying the driver and assigning the fine? How much is the fine for this violation? Will it include suspension of license?
Please assist, this is my first ever speeding violation and I feel really scared.
Thank you!
19.04.2019 @ 15:43
I can only help by saying perhaps someone called Potocki will be along soon, they are very helpful. Main problem here is that comments are not updated regularly though…
19.04.2019 @ 15:51
Yeah, I’d really like if Potocki would chime in. He seems to be the guru in Poland.
06.05.2019 @ 22:29
Hello,
Well, the bad thing is that above 50kmh over the speed limit in the city they suspend your driving license for 3 months. The good thing is that you were driving a Lithuanian registered car. The VERY GOOD THING is that you were not pulled up by ‘live policemen’ but have a nice photo made by a yellow box. What the police or ITD (Traffic Inspectorate) would do if the car was registered in Poland, would send a letter to the owner asking him/her/company to reveal who was the driver. The problem is that sending this letter is not sufficiently regulated by the law (some claim it’s illegal to send it 😉 ) and if somebody fails to answer the case may go to the court (which is not always a bad thing). Remember one thing!: in Poland ONLY THE DRIVER OF THE CAR MAY BE FINED FOR COMMITTING A TRAFFIC OFFENSE. To make it possible THEY HAVE TO PROVE WHO WAS DRIVING THE CAR. IF THEY CANNOT PROVE WHO WAS DRIVING THEY CANNOT FINE ANYBODY. Even if they try to fine the owner of the car for not revealing the identity of the driver, the offence is: ‘failure to reveal the identity of the driver’ and not ‘speeding’. The owner cannot be fined for speeding or any other traffic offense in the place of a driver (like in some other European countries). So, if I were you: 1. I would call the owner of the car telling him/her/company to let you know if he/she/company receives any letter from Polish ITD or police. Then I would relax, sit back and do nothing so far. (honestly I don’t think they will send anything. It’s a lot of work and a low possibility of success.). 2. If the owner gets the letter, I would either: ask him to do nothing or ask him to say that he/she/company doesn’t know who was driving at that time. 3. The ITD or police would then have a problem. They do not know who was driving the car, they do not know who to fine. I am not sure whether they can fine the owner of the car for not revealing the driver. Even if they could it can be a problem to collect the fine. If they go to the court, the court would probably need to question the owner of the car, but I don’t think they could call him to come to Poland. Polish court writting a letter to Lithuanian court… And all these to collect a fine of 500PLN (120 EUR)…. I don’t think so. YOU ARE CLEAR, because they do not know that you were driving. SO IS YOUR PRECIOUS DRIVING LICENSE. 🙂 The owner of the car is also clear (assuming that he is a human not company), because he is not proven to be the driver of the car (and even if he was, I don’t think he/she would be in the system of eg. Border Guard (they do more serious things generally). The car I think is also safe (need to double check) if it enters Poland and is stopped by Police. I often had unpaid speeding tickets and police wasn’t trying to do anything with my car. If they would ask Lithuanian authorities on who owns the car and if they would send the letter, and if the owner wouldn’t reveal the driver, and if the owner wouldn’t reveal the driver, and if they go to the court, and if the court would sentence the owner for a 300-500 PLN fine for not revealing the driver, and if they would follow with execution of that 300-500 PLN fine…. then maybe it would be nice for you to give 120EUR to the owner of the car. But there are so many ‘if’s…. If I were you I would do nothing, just to tell the owner to notify you if he/she/company gets any letter from Polish police and not to answer without your consent.
07.05.2019 @ 13:12
Potocki,
thanks a lot, your response is informative, as always. The car owner is aware of the situation and was with me in the car when this happened. I told not to accept any registered letters, etc. Worst case scenario, I will of course cover the costs of the fine for not revealing the driver.
One small question – what time window does the police or ITD have to identify the driver? Is it still 180 days or something has changed?
Thank you very much.
08.05.2019 @ 15:50
They have 180 days to fine the driver. If they go to the court the time bar is 1 year. If the court finds you guilty (after appeal etc.) they have 2 years from the time of committing the offence to fine you.
23.01.2019 @ 14:33
Hi, So I got a charge from my car rental company for administration fees for a speeding violation (Camera) but I haven’t receive any ticket or anything on the mail. Is there anyway to pay the fine online or how I can fix this issue.? I am already out of the country (Poland)
03.03.2019 @ 14:04
Hey Alex,
I’m in the same situation. How did you reslove this?
03.03.2019 @ 17:16
Alex, why you do want to pay this fine? You were already charged a fee. Isn’t that enough for you? If you haven’t got any paperwork from the police, why not seat back, relax and enjoy your life? If you get the paperwork, you may then decide whether you would like to pay it or just to ignore it (depending on what country you live in, are coming to Poland soon etc.). Have a good sunday!
07.05.2019 @ 13:11
Potocki,
thanks a lot, your response is informative, as always.
The car owner is aware of the situation and was with me in the car when this happened.
I told not to accept any registered letters, etc. Worst case scenario, I will of course cover the costs of the fine for not revealing the driver.
One small question – what time window does the police or ITD have to identify the driver? Is it still 180 days or something has changed?
Thank you very much.
20.05.2019 @ 16:03
Hello. exceeded the speed in Poland by 52 km / h, i was driving 102 km / h in built it area. police stop my driving licence for 3 months. how long time i will wait untill they send it back to DVLA ?
15.12.2018 @ 01:01
Guys who knows how long it will take to points disappear or get 0 ?
29.12.2018 @ 00:01
Hi,
A point/s lives for a year from the day of the offence. After a year from the offence it is erased.
10.02.2019 @ 17:12
Hi Potocki,
Is there any other way to reduce points faster then a year?
I heard there is some courses which you have to participate in, but is it valid for foreigners?
Additional question, i saw that max sum of points is 24/year before loosing license, but only for speed what is the maximum?
03.03.2019 @ 13:00
If you have a foreign drivers license, pojnt system does not apply to you then. No worries. Just have to pay the fine on the spot 🙂
22.11.2018 @ 19:17
Attention! Stingers in service! The Police has announced they have biught a few Kia Stinger cars for unmarked police cars. They are supposed to be grey, dark blue, graphite colour. They will be entering the service at the end of November.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
14.11.2018 @ 15:17
I got the ticket(with photo) for speeding(+26 Km in 50 KM speed zone) in Warsaw, and they charged me 200 zl + 4 points 🙁
FYI, I have signed and received the ticket from postman.
Questions,
– Is there anyway to escape from points? – I am a foreigner but have polish driving license.
– Any online gateway to pay the penalty? as I don’t speak polish, so it is difficult for me to speak in government office.
22.11.2018 @ 19:18
Hi Kumar,
What exactly did you get? Did you confess it was you driving?
05.11.2018 @ 18:50
Hi Potocki,
I received a fine and I collected it and gned it at the post office as received.
I got caught driving 105km/h and the limit was 70km/h. My driving license is polish as a resident foreigner. The statement says I might be given 6 points and pay 200 pln. Do I need to reply as I was the driver and pay¿ I would like to avoid being taken 6 points from my driving license. If you can give me a recommendation and what are the probabilities of anything.
Thanks
22.11.2018 @ 19:20
What exactly did you get? A call to reveal the driver? The actual fine? What was it?
09.08.2018 @ 18:07
Hi,
I am in Poland for a month on a work trip from Canada. Driving between the Katowice airport and the city the speed limit was mostly 70. I tried to keep my speed down below 90 but noticed cars passing me well over 100. At one point I though Ivsaw a flash as I passed through a tunnel, did I get caught by a camera? I can’t remember how fast I was at the time but definitely no more than 100. What should I expect? I am here for another month and may return in the future.
01.10.2018 @ 01:43
Hi,
Was the car rented? If yes, than maybe a letter from rent a car company (possible ‘special fee’ from them). If you are sure you can cancel your credut card just in case. If you get anything they probably will ask you who was the driver. You can confess (you are a foregner so you’ll get no points, just 100-300 PLN), or you can fail to reveal the driver where you’d get a similar fine. Generaly I wouldn’t be very proactive if I were you. If you haven’t gotten a letter so far it may happen that you won’t get anything.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
27.07.2018 @ 23:07
Hello Potocki
I’ve got a fine for parking in Krakow “LIKE Andrii who asked first” Is that possible to pay it online ?
01.10.2018 @ 01:44
Hi,
I haven’t seen the fine document, but if it’s realy a final fine it should give you the account number to do the wire transfer to.
21.07.2018 @ 16:22
Hi there!
I’ve got a fine for parking in Krakow.
Is that possible to pay it online, smth like on police website?
Photo of the fine – https://www.dropbox.com/s/c88nw9avlnmk3st/2018-07-16%2020.55.38.jpg?dl=0
Thank you!)
01.10.2018 @ 01:38
Hi Andrij,
I haven’t been here for a while. Can you repost the photo of your ticket/letter?
08.06.2018 @ 23:02
Hey Potocki,
I have another question, I know my car got shot from speed camera about last month
they send me the ticket but i didn’t notice check my mailbox for a while, so i didn’t get the ticket from mailman
when i go to the postoffice to ask, they said they send it back.
what will happened next? will the police send the ticket again?
and if I miss the ticket from postman again,something happen?
(the car is under my name, and I got a resident card in poland and a pesel number)
18.07.2018 @ 15:39
Hi Charles,
Basing on what you’ve written they may send you another letter calling you to reveal the driver (most probably) or do not send anything, or send the case to the court. In the second case the court would ask you whether you were driving or not. Nothing to worry about. You haven’t received any letter so you are not obliged to give any answers so far. Even if you get the letter you may say the you won’t reveal the driver (no points + 200-300PLN fine) or say that you won’t remember who was driving (their decission whether to let go or go to the court). No need to do anything now. If you get a second letter you do not have to confess. There is no duty to remeber who was driving the car on a given day in the past. 😉
05.06.2018 @ 23:39
Hello, I need some advice.
I was caught by a policeman today and he said that I was driving the street where I am not allowed to so that I need to pay 100zl and lose 2 points.
It was the first time in 10 years of driving in Poland and I really didn’t see any NO ENTRY sign.
(Usually I am the slowest and most careful driver in this country)
So I first apologized my mistake and asked for just a warning this time, however he didn’t let me go and either I will pay the fine or my case will be in the court.
Many cars passed next to us during our conversation but no one was stopped. I complained about it, but he didn’t care.
Eventually he said that we will meet in the court and took my karta pobytu and a polish license.
when he checked my cards and give them back to me, I asked him what shall I do.
The policeman said ‘nothing’, I asked if there’ll be any payment or letter, he said ‘no’.
He didn’t give me any paper and just told me to go.
Am I overlooked? or should I be aware of a further notification?
Thank you in advance
09.06.2018 @ 22:38
The policeman answered your questions mate and before that sounds like he was abusing his position playing around with you. Very unprofessional of him. As you have your cards back, don’t worry!
18.07.2018 @ 15:33
Exactly K! Don’t worry. The policeman was trying to press you to pay (probably a bribe). Probably nothing will happen. If there was the case for the court he should have given you a peper to sign saying that you do not accept the fine. Unless you neither signed that nor you signed the fine ticket, there is no case. He would have to argue the you have escaped or so… but then how could he check your docs with their system… (what is registered..).
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
11.05.2018 @ 17:00
No more unconditional driving license suspenssion! Today the Senate has approved the ammendment to Traffic Law. It has yet to be signed by the President, but this will probably happen soon. The policeman no longer has to take away our driving license for 3 month if we go over 100kmh (110 kmh at night) in town, IF BY DOING SO WE WERE AVOIDING A BIGGER DANGER. So if you are taking a pregnant woman that starts delivering a baby, somebody wounded etc. to hospital you will not loose your license. It doesn’t influence our daily driving much, but good to know that saving somebody in emergency will not cost you a drive ban for 3 months. There can be some corruption going on around it, as it is easier for the policeman to let somebody go now saying ‘he was feeling he was having a heart infract’, but wouldn’t expect it to happen in larger scale.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
08.06.2018 @ 22:18
HI,
I got a ticket by city police for driving into an area that has a sign says ‘ no vehicle’
I just get in the area 5 second, without parking, the city police walk and ask for 200zl fine
I ask a lot of question, they call the real police to obstruct my car
anybody know what will happen if i refuse the ticket and not paying for the fine??
11.05.2018 @ 10:35
Hey,
It’s really hard to get an answer in English googling about the big yellow speed cameras. Are these cameras able to take a photo from the rear as in to get a photo from a speeding motorbike? I tried to look at the camera and it seems like it is only facing forward.
Thanks for the help!
16.05.2018 @ 18:20
Hi Repa,
The yellow speed cameras take photo both from the front and from the rear. Of course if you are riding a motorbkie you do not care about photos taken from the front. (one day I drove around 500km and made myself 6 nice speed camera photos at speeds +40-60 over the limit :-)) all taken from the front, so….what bike was that? who was driving? nobody knows ;-)) ). If there is your plate number on the picture, they may send a letter to the owner of the car/motorbike demanding to reveal the driver. Failure to do so results in 200-300 PLN fine (no points) which seems to be the easiest way out. But you need to get the letter. Otherwise nothing will happen.
Speed safely and do not get caught!
Potocki
01.04.2018 @ 08:09
Hello,
I’m after some advice…I have received a letter from Poland, as I was flashed by a (big yellow) camera (speeding at over 32 KM/Hr above limit in built up area – according to details given).
I drive over there from time to time using rental cars through my company I work for, normally Hertz.
If I read the information above correctly, I can expect up to a 72 euro fine (approx.) ….
what I’m worried about are the points? its stating 6
Would this be on a UK licence or polish licence?
I don’t have a polish licence…just standard UK (EU)…
I haven’t responded to the letter, I guess there wanting me to fess up first?
16.04.2018 @ 17:07
Hi Simon,
First – don’t worry! Second – what kind of paper have you got? Is it in Polish or English? What does it say? As you have no Polish license, nor residency in Poland you’ll get no points (Polish, English, Ecuadorian, no!). Have you signed anything with the postman that you have actualy received the letter? If not (you just found it in your letterbox) you may use it as a toilet paper (it’s a bit hard, but if you bend it a few times it becomes a bit softer). If you signed (means they have a proof that you’ve received it), you can do a few things. You can still not answer. The case will got ot court where they probably find you guilty of not revealing the driver of the car 50-100EUR. You could appeal and probably end up with some 50 EUR. You can say that you were driving the car and you accept the fine of 72 EUR (you have no points anyway). Or you can say that was not you driving, but you lend it for a few hours to …for example your friend that lives in ….Australia, or Argentina. (then they would have to send him/her a letter asking whether he/she was driving or lend the car to smb else… eg. from Sakhalin, Russia). Remeber time flies. They have a 180 days to identify the driver. If not, the speeding is out of question. They have 2 years to punish you. If not, there is a time bar. As you were sentenced or accepted the fine they have 3 years to collect the fine. Not more.
Whatever you choose I would check my credit card statement. They cannot take a speeding fine right away, but probably if Hertz has got a policy of charging you for getting a letter from the police, than sending them your address in return, they will charge you for this (of they have already done). If they haven’t charged you I would block the card instantly. There is no system that would allow the police catch you for that if you get pulled over by the police next time (whether you padi or not, confessed or not).
14.01.2018 @ 15:20
hi all.
i was driving in poland in fast lane about to overtake a car (100kph) when another car i just passed put his foot down and accelerated level with me and pulled into my lane, forcing me to brake and swerve hard to miss him.
he overtook the car i was about to then pulled into slow lane and dropped his speed.
i got really angry and did same to him, i forced my way into the slow lane right in front of him and made him brake hard, he was banging his horn really hard to tell me i nearly hit him, yeah thanks mate pity that did not concern you when you nearly ran me off the road!
im worried now he or his passenger can call police. what punishment can i get?
ty in advance.
17.01.2018 @ 11:55
Hi Dirk,
To make anything out of it the car you mentioned would have to have a camera installed. It happens as you may buy them for 15EUR, but of course most of the car do not have them. If they didn’t have a camera calling the police will not result any effect. They would ask them for a proof. If there is no proof why they should believe them not you, or you not them…? If they had a camera and the camera was on while it happen, and they have called the police, the police may start the procedure. It could make you some troubles, but ……I am not an expert with video films as a proof, but I have heard that to use a recording as a proof (they need to be uncut) you need to present the whole film from the beginning to the end. You know what I mean! If they had a camera and the camera was on all the time it would have probably recorded two traffic offences (his one and you one). So calling the police would mean him denoucing you, but also denouncing himself. Of course if he turned the camera on just before you did what you did and turned it of later, he could use it without consequences (for him) but I assume it is not very probable… Honestly, I wouldn’t bother. You do not have a 100% guarantee but the chances are on your side. 😉
30.03.2018 @ 08:11
Please note there are speed cameras in Poland. In september 2018 I was driving only 100 kph on 70 kph limit and a speed camera took a pic of me. Six months later came a citation on a registered letter. It was about the incident and demand for 200 zloty fine or local court if I deny the incident. I confessed that I had been a bad boy in a traffic and sent my reply in a registered letter as well. One month later I got a bank transfer information from the Polish police. It is important to pay if you are going back to Poland someday. Police have a comprehensive register where they can find you in case you did not pay the fine. And next time you are there it will not be only fine but a local court they take you in.
Drive responsibly 🙂
03.04.2018 @ 02:49
John, the letter you got was the letter demanding to reveal who was the driver of your car. It was not the speeding ticket as they do not know who was driving = they do not know who was speeding. It has been clarified below. If you say that you fail to reveal the driver and accept a fine for not revealing the driver you pay 200-300 PLN (45-70 EUR)-NO POINTS and you are done. If you want to play with them you may: ‘not answer’, ‘answer that you do not remeber’ plus some other things. Than the case goes to the court. Generaly you shouldn’t be affraid of the court, especially if you are Polish speaker. The penalties in court may or may not be a little higher than with the police. Sometimes the court may let you go. The system monitoring the cars and drivers is still not working properly. The names of the system change, but it continues not to work (current name ‘CEP2’ , current deadline 4th of July 2018 – but some people say it will be further postponed). Generaly DO NOT WORRY! Drive responsibly NOT TO KILL YOURSELF OR ANYBODY ELSE, not because of fines and the system.
Speed safely and do not get caught!
03.04.2018 @ 03:05
Nice thing has happened to me recently. THERE ARE SOME NICE POLICEMEN IN POLAND. I was driving a regular 2 lane road in the country yesterday (100 kmh allowed). Hopefully I was warned by Yanosik system, so I slowed down a bit. I thought the police is behing the hill. They were at the top of it, so they shot me at 147kmh. The policeman said he has to give me 400 PLN (90 EUR) fine and 8 penalty points. I said that 8 is a lot of points and asked whether I couldn’t ‘be going a bit slower’. He went to their car and brought me a speeding ticket….saying that I was going 119km and giving me 50 PLN (13 EUR) fine with 2 points. I thanked him and wished him very happy Easter. 🙂 No corruption involved.
11.01.2018 @ 15:34
So, this happened:
I was caught in Bielsko Biala doing 85,1
the police claimed it was a 50 and fined me 200 Pln
I thought I was getting off relatively lightly.
I later discovered it was a 70, and so I was only doing 15 over, verifiable by the police proof.
What are my options?
11.01.2018 @ 15:36
btw I signed the fine, as I needed to get to the school I am teaching at without further ado. They said “50” in Polish, although I later discovered they could speak English just fine.
My Polish is rudimentary, but I did understand the policeman. The police “mistake” however is easy to verify. The road is a 70 throughout there.
17.01.2018 @ 12:04
Ha, I do not think ‘undoing’ this fine would be easy. The problem is that if you sign the traffic ticket it means that you CONFESS to making the offence. If you have signed it, it is considered that you confessed on the offence and agreed on the fine. Theoreticaly you could write a notion to the regional court in the region where it happened, but as far as I know you have only 7 days for it and then you need to go to the court etc. In your situation I wouldn’t do it. The situation is totaly diffferent when you refuse to sign the ticket. Next time if you have doubts DO NOT SIGN.
Speed safely and do not get caught!
10.01.2018 @ 15:06
Hi,
I visited Poland in June 3rd 2017 and was caught by a camera doing 85km/h in a 50km/h zone and the Glowny Inspektorat Transpotu Drogogwego has sent me a fine to my address in UK, however the picture provided isn’t clear who was driving and I only received it on 23rd October 2017, what should I do? They are even asking for any responses to be provided in polish. I have now moved away from that address in UK and live in Switzerland and went back home for holidays and thats when I had noticed the letter and all due dates have now passed. What should I do?
10.01.2018 @ 15:08
I forgot to mention, that it was a hired car that was in my name
17.01.2018 @ 12:14
Hmmm….I would recommend you to relax and enjoy snowy winter in Switzerland :-). Before that I would only check a. whether the car rental company has extra fees for ‘informing the authorities on identity of the renter etc.’.; b. whether on your credit card you do not have extra fees charged. There is hardly anything Głowny Inspektorat can do. They sent you a letter to reveal the identity of the driver. You failed to do so. You do not live in the place anymore. They will not chase you around Europe and the penalty for ‘not revealing the identity of the driver’ is 100-300 PLN. What may however happen is that the rental company can charge you for having the to respond Glowny Inspektorat, like eg. 100PLN per letter.. (they cannot however charge you for speeding or any other offence. Look few comments below: to punish for an offence they need to know the idetity of the offender). If you find that they have such extra fees in their rental agreement AND they haven’t charged you yet, then it may be an idea to cancel the card you gave them with your bank.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
30.12.2017 @ 00:25
hi
i was last week in Poland
my question is I I had drived my car on motorway A2 e30 from Frankfurt oder TO Poznan
and then Poznan to torun via bydgdcz
i want to know is there any radar camera on A2 e30 motorway
30.12.2017 @ 00:29
and want to know the radar cameras wit flashing system ?
08.01.2018 @ 05:11
No gill,
As far as I know there isn’t. To use a legal stationary speed camera (or a system that monitors average speed) in Poland you need to put a warning sign D-51 ‘Kontrola prędkości’ ( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Znak_D-51.svg). If there is no sign, there is no speed camera, unless it is a hand held speed camera, operated by a policemen that would stop you right away or car that follows you and measures you speed. If there was no sign – no camera. I am not aware of any stationary speed cameras on A2, but this can change. They generaly do not use hand held guns on motorways. The most probable speed control on a motorway would be an unmarked police car.
28.12.2017 @ 23:44
SpeedingEurope Team, it’s a shame, but I’ve been writing about various stuff and I didn’t notice the obvious mistake on the page. Sorry. The speed limit in the CITY IN POLAND is 50 kmh ONLY from 5:00 to 23:00 LOCAL TIME. THE LIMIT AT NIGHT FROM 23:00 to 5:00 LOCAL TIME IS 60 KMH. It’s art 20 of the Traffic Law (Ustawa Prawo o Ruchu Drogowym). Thus the chart should say 50(day)/60(night). Because of that, the speed in the city, where they take your license away for 3 months is 100kmh from 5:00 to 11:00 (so you may safely go 97-99kmh) and 110 kmh from 23:00 until 5:00 (so you can safely drive 107-109kmh).
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
28.12.2017 @ 23:46
Oh, now I see it is mentioned it the Poland page. Maybe you could just write 50/60 at the main chart for Europe.
01.01.2018 @ 13:04
Thank you, Potocki. I have now made this information much more clear 🙂
08.01.2018 @ 05:15
Thanks SpeedingEurope Team,
TRAVEL TRAINING - Jumbo Papers
21.11.2017 @ 14:13
[…] Speeding Limits: https://www.speedingeurope.com/poland/ […]
22.09.2017 @ 00:04
TALKING WITH THE POLICE and….. CORRUPTION.
If you got stopped TALK TO THE POLICEMEN. They are humans. If you behave like a machine, they will treat you like a machine. If you talk to them, they may treat you like a human being. It always makes sense to be kind, pleasant, relaxed and have some sense of humor. Ofcourse never laught at them or be proud of what you’ve just done, but showing some distance to the situation may help. If you behave agressively, they will behave agressively. If you show that you scared, terrified or you feel as you just killed somebody, they may use it against you. Stay calm.
If you got stopped and you know you have done something illegal, and you know that they know you did it, and you know they can prove it – it doesn’t make sens to deny. Instead it’s better to apply distnace, a little of regret, and a little of sense of humor.
Theoreticaly nearly anytime they stop you, they CAN INSTEAD OF GIVING YOU A FINE, GIVE YOU A WARNING. That’s what the law says. The police chiefs usually instruct their subbordinates to use a warning only towards very minor ofenses (eg. speeding <5km), but it often happens that if you do the talk well, you may get a warning for something more serious. I once got a warning for talking over a cell phone while driving – normally 200 PLN +5 penalty points. Even if he wasn't following his commander's instructions, it WAS PERFECLY LEGAL. If we were recorded and shown to his boss or the prosecutor, he/she couldn't apply any sanctions against the policeman. So that is quite safe way for both you and the policemen. Generally it doesn't make sens to deny the offence itself. Instead it's better to apply distnace, a little of regret, and a little of sense of humor. Admitting that 'well I shouldn't do this or that, but well I did…, I am sorry… what can I say, I'll not tell you it wasn't me… etc.' Appreciating their 'hard work' often helps.
If you got stopped and you know you either haven't done anything illegal, or you know that they cannot prove it – be firm , say that you didn't do it, ask for a video from a speed camera etc. ZERO AGRESSION, 100% OF RESPECT, but 100% of being FIRM, CONCRETE and SELF CONFIDENT. Unfortunately it often happens that policemen know that you were speeding, but failed to measure your speed, so they fired their laser gun into… another driver they failed to stop. Or saying that you were running the redlight while you were going an orange….
Corruptionis a tricky issue, so let's start from from the disclosure. 'I AM NOT ENCOURAGING ANYBODY TO BE INVOLVED IN ANY CORRUPTION ACTIVITY. IT IS A CRIME ACC. TO POLISH LAW'. Corruption was very popular on Polish roads 15 years ago, and 25-30 years ago CORRUPTION WAS 'THE LAW'. You may have heard storries about Polish policemen asking straight to give them a 100 PLN bribe and they would let you go regardless of the traffic offense you commited. THESE TIMES ARE LONG GONE! There is much, much less corruption. Policemen are mostly affraid to take anything as both their Internal Affairs Bureau (a Police Dept.) and Anti Corruption Bureau (separate agency) are actively fighting this issue. I doesn't mean that any policeman in any situation will not want to earn extra money, but it is an exception rather than the rule. Few pieces of advice.
1. I doubt whether it makes much sense to try to bribe a policemen being a foreigner. The penalties in Poland are low. What is the biggest problem for us, Poles are the points. These however don't have much to do with foreigners. Potentialy the 3m driving ban can be the biggest problem for someone with a foreign passport. If somebody bribes someone, he/she still needs to paymoney.
2. Corruption is a crime according to Polish law. You can, theoreticaly get as much as 10 years in prison (so can the policeman). Practicaly people get their sentance suspended and policemen get fired from service additionaly.
3. Begining any discussion about it with policemen doesn't make any sense if there are 2 of them talking to you, or you sit in a police car. Police cars happen to be tapped and sometimes even the policemen may not know it.
4. If you for any reason do the talk, better to talk to one of them.
5. The thing is that Polish traffic code specifies the fines for the offences in brackets eg. from 100-200 PLN. It's normal to bargain with the policemen to get lower penalty (what they often do). You may also do it, saying that X PLN zloty is a lot, 'could you please give me a smaller fine' maybe an idea. As a foreigner you may not know what the brackets are, so doing this way you're giving way to the policeman. If he says, 'sorry I cannot give you less then Y PLN, this is the law' you know that that's where you gonna end up with. I he tells you something different, then you also know…
6. Whatever you say or intended to do, you should never admit straight that you ment something wrong or illegal. Corruption? Absolutely no! Me? Never.
Speed safely and do not get caught!
20.09.2017 @ 15:16
SYSTEMS WARNING AGAINST POLCE. It is quite useful in Poland to use special systems by which the drivers warn others about speedcameras and police patrols. To clarify things from the begining. Using, or ‘carrying inside the car, ready to use’ radar jammers or radar detectors is ILLEGAL. (you can however own them or transport inside the trunk if you are eg. a citizen of a country where those are legal). Using a CB radio, or systems enabling drivers to communicate and warn against police is PERFECTLY LEGAL. There is a few popular systems: Yanosik.pl, Coyote.pl, Rysiekwidzimisie.pl, Autoradar.pl and probably some more. The most popular is probably Yanosik, which I am using and which is used by around 100.000 drivers. Those systems operate in a form of an App you can download on your smartphone, or as a stand alone device you plug into the liter. These systems operate like CB radio, but use keys isted of direct communications. If someone notices a police car (marked or unmarked), speedcamera or an accident, car stopped on the shoulder etc. he/she presses a key on a device or smartphone. The signal goes to the server and is being sent to every user that comes close to this place. Then as you drive you hear the warning: “Kontrola predkosci” (speed check), “Nieoznakowani w okolicy” (unmarked police car in the vicinity) superseded by the brand of the car, “Wypadek” (accident), “Zatrzymany pojazd” (stoped vehicle) and a distance in meters. As you approach the place you may confirm it (which gives it more priority) or deny it (which makes it dissapear to other users). You may also do nothing, but if you receive help, why not give one. Ofcourse it happens that you are the first user that approaches the situation so there is no guarantee, but most of the time you will be warned before you come close. I am not sure whether there are English versions of these. As for me, a very useful tool not to get caught and if you often come to Poland I definitely recommend you one.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
18.08.2017 @ 10:25
Hello, when I was driving in poland (80 km/h zone) I was going about 110-120 km/h (I hit the brakes to 100 km/h when i saw them), and I saw police car and they were shooting speed, I was not pulled over, however it concerns me, will i get a fine few weaks later ? Thank you.
18.08.2017 @ 18:29
Also there was a three lane traffic
22.08.2017 @ 00:10
NO WAY Mindaugas! If they didn’t stop you you will never get any fine nor letter. The police HAS TO STOP YOU to see who was the driver and to give you a ticket. If they don’t, there is no ticket (unless you were escaping and they were chasing you, which is now a crime). Don’t worry and speed safely, and don’t get caught!
11.08.2017 @ 14:07
General Inspection o Road Transport announces purchasing 600 new speed cameras. 🙁 So far speed cameras do not pose such a serious threat to drivers as Police inspections with laser guns or unmarked police cars, because as you know if you fail to reveal the identity of the driver nobody is going to face severe penalty for speeding (just a minor fine for not revealing the driver), but it isn’t a good news. The good thing is that they all have to be placed in yellow painted boxes that are clearly marked and proceeded by a blue “Fotoradar” sign. These places will definitely be marked on road maps so you know where to slow down.
Speed safely and don’t get caught.
P
14.11.2021 @ 02:04
Hello. . I want to know. Camera cought me and if ai will not pay that fine what Willbe . Im not resident of poland and
03.12.2021 @ 20:00
Hi Nick,
How would GIRT know that it was you driving? Have you sent them anything?
10.08.2017 @ 13:04
Attention, new cars for the Polish Police. The Police just bought 140 BMW 330i xDrive to serve as unmarked cars for highway patrol. They will be replacing VW Passats and Skoda Superb from Dec 2017 on, but probably it wil take some time. They can get to 250 kmh but as they have only 250+HP it may take them some time ;-).
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
08.01.2018 @ 05:14
Warning! The police has just announced that the BMW3s mentioned above become operational tomorrow. So add up a BMW3 to you list of possible undercover police cars!
Tomorrow they also say the start the action ‘speed’. (what probably means that as the got new cars they want to try them out and have fund driving fast on the roads…)
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
29.01.2018 @ 14:35
Attention! 40 new, unmarked BMW3s are hunting for drivers. https://moto.onet.pl/aktualnosci/gdzie-mozna-spotkac-nowe-nieoznakowane-policyjne-bmw/2fbyng4 They are said to be deployed in Wrocław, Poznań, Kraków, Gdańsk, Białystok (road S8), Bydgoszcz, Gorzow Wielkopolski, Kielce, Lublin, Łódź, Olsztyn, Opole, Radom, Rzeszów, Szczecin. The color you see at the pictures maybe quite popular among them. I am not sure about the plate numbers. The one you see starting with ‘H’ letter are police numbers (if you see a car with such number IT IS DEFINITELY A POLICE CAR). I think they will change it into civil numbers to make them look like regular cars.
Speed safely and do not get caught!
17.06.2017 @ 17:49
This comment from Macias is totally disgusting and offensive. I fully support Potocki and the information he has taken the trouble to inform us of here. I also respect him for his response to this outreageous personal attack. There should be no tolerance of such personal abuse here and I am rather surprised it went through moderation. SpeedingEurope Team?
20.06.2017 @ 22:39
I have made a comment supporting Potocki here against the outrageous attack from this Macias character. However I note that other comments dated more recently than mine have now appeared on the site. Potocki is doing great work helping people and deserves our thanks, respect and support.
So I find it strange and disappointing that the disgusting and offensive personal attack on Potocki was allowed yet my comment supporting him has been delayed or withheld.
25.06.2017 @ 17:08
Thanks Fletch for support. I could answer this guy with some insults (which he deserved) but then we would end up having a discussion on his level, which definitely doesn’t fit this forum. I guess the moderation should come in here.
10.08.2017 @ 17:18
No problem mate. I’ve only just seen your comment now. Keep up the good work! 🙂
15.06.2017 @ 08:07
Hi Potocki,
I live in India and have been informed by car rental company ‘Hertz’ about a speeding incident during my trip to Poland in early February (83km/hr in a 50km/hr zone).
In the month of March, I was told by Hertz that they have provided my details to the authorities and I should expect a direct post from them regarding payment of fine.
It’s now June and I still have not received any communication.
Car rental company is not helping.
I got in touch with authority (glowny inspektorat transportu drogowego) via email since I do not want trouble during my next visit. They have sent me a form (totally in Polish) asking for my statement and acceptance options (fine 200zl and 6 points to my license seems to be the best option).
So I sent them a scan copy of the signed form by email (I had to translate it on google, word to word). I do not have any Polish address for correspondence. Now I’m not getting any reply from the authority over email so I do not know whether to post them the form or not.
And WHERE DO I PAY THE FINE?? I can’t find any information regarding procedure. Can somebody please help? (I travel to Italy and Greece in July, I’ll be renting a car in both countries).
Thanks,
Ruchit
20.06.2017 @ 00:45
Hi Ruchit,
First and foremost: you shouldn’t have answered the letter. There are discussions whether it is even legal to send them… Remember, unless it is PROVEN that YOU WERE DRIVING THE CAR they CANNOT punish you for speeding. Ok, you answered. Which part of the form did you fill? It is usually in the form of a quiz, where filling one part means you confess (probably A), the other that you do not cofess (probably B) but point the person who was driving and the last one that you do not confess and will not tell who was driving and accept the 200-300PLN penalty for not pointing the driver (I think C). Which one did you fill? Generaly 1) DO NOT WORRY, 2) DONOT BE PROACTIVE (we even have a saying that ‘officiousness may be even worse than fascism’ 😉 ). 3) Whatever you wrote them if they do not tell you how to pay, do not pay! Let them do their job. Penalty points are bullshit for you because as far as I know you need to have a Polish PESEL (ident. number) to have points. If you do not have it they can send them to the moon (and back 😉 ). 4) I am not aware of any system or mechanism that lets the Border Guard know about unpaid traffic fees (and I think they have more serious things to do and do a good job most of their time). Even if somehow somebody at the border would know that you are to pay something, even if he/she new how much, even if you were required to pay at the border, you would pay 200 PLN (maybe a bit more eg. 30 PLN ‘execution costs’). There are no interest put on fines. That i the law. I often fail to pay and after a year or so have to pay 30 PLN more.. And remeber the time for the Police or GTD to investigate the traffic offence is one year and to collect the fine is three years. If they don’t do it than you don’t have the obligation to pay anything. Forget about having it colect in ANY OTHER EU COUNTRIES. The system works (although with loopholes big like Taj Mahal 😉 ) against EU drivers committing an offence in othe EU jurisdiction. It doesn’t work for you.
03.05.2019 @ 18:06
Hello,
I have Indian licence and International too, but I have got caught by yellow machine speeding camera in Warsaw approximately I was 20-30km/hr more than the limit.will I get fine on car registration adress.?
What you think how much will I get punished besides this will I face any other problem also. When I get fine can I pay in post office?
Do I need to show licence at The Time of paying?
12.06.2017 @ 13:23
Hi, all
Just a few days back I was driving through Poland and got stopped by Police for speeding. I didn`t have enough cash with me, so they asked for my home address and wrote me speeding ticket (Mandat Karny).
There is a row of numbers in it, but unfortunately it seems that it is not the bank account.
The police officer told me – I should pay it within 7 days.
I would actually love to pay it, but I don`t really understand why. With money transfer it is not really working cause there are 2 numbers too many.
Does anyone know how can I pay it? And what happens if I don`t pay it? (After all they have my home address).
Many thanks in advance,
20.06.2017 @ 00:47
Hi Antira, where do you live? EU or outside EU?
09.10.2017 @ 22:34
Hi,
I got the same. Got a fine but no idea how to pay it. Should I pay it? I’m from Belgium.
22.05.2017 @ 16:18
M, in the language of cultural people there is no word to describe you after such a comment. And I will not use the words your comment deserves…
SpeedingEurope Team, its your site and your policy, but I do not think comments containing such language (‘fucking, cunts etc) , or being of nationalistic character (‘fucked by those foreigners’ etc.) fit this forum. So far every comment I saw here was polite and served the purpose of givng ‘those foreigners’ (as we are all foreigners in a country other than our own) a good piece of practical information how to avoid being ‘taxed for our sympathy to drive fast’. I think it would be good to remove this comment and not post similar ones. If you agree…..
23.10.2017 @ 12:53
Hi Pierolo,
Have you only got a “Mandat karny”
https://www.google.pl/search?q=mandat+karny&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0zuvGx4bXAhUD7hoKHbZTDrAQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=924#imgrc=9etL-vR2T1oEPM:
without a wire transfer form “Polecenie przelewu”?
https://www.google.pl/search?q=polecenie+przelewu+mandat+karny&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv3N-0xobXAhVJ6xoKHfMWC6gQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=924#imgrc=YViskTxhRCC0iM:
The account number is the 3rd row on the second form (it is not on the first form). If you need an IBAN number, just add ‘PL’ in front of the account number. If you haven’t got the second form you do not have the account number.
However, if I were you I would probably NOT PAY IT anyway. You have been fined, you accepted a fine. If you fail to pay, they will send the case to the bailiff. If you were Polish, the bailiff would send you two letters and if you didn’t pay he would finaly get the money from your bank account adding less than 10 EUR additional costs. As you are not Polish the bailiff should get your home address, write to you to Belgium, get (don’t get) a repply, then try to contact somebody in Belgium (Belgian bailiff?) that is entitled to get the money from you. Then probably this guy needs to send you something before taking the money…. Honestly, if it is not a huge fee (and it is not, because in Poland we do not have them for traffic offenses) I bet the Polish police or Polish bailiff will do exactly nothing with it. And as far as I know they cannot stop you anywhere (street, border crossing) only because you haven’t pay a traffic ticket (that’s why foreigners are usualy required to pay on spot).
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
27.03.2017 @ 23:40
Hi,
Another hypothethical question for you… If I was driving in a hire car, they paid a fine on my behalf to a foreign government and MAY have passed my details onto the Polish police, would this be available to border police at the airport?
Cheers
24.04.2017 @ 11:34
Hi, I highly doubt so. First, in Poland (and some other countries to) you are not allowed to charge someone somebody’s else fine (or even pay a fine in somebody’s name). The fine (if it’s officially a FINE, not a FEE which anybody can be subject to) is to be imposed on and paid by somebody who has been found guilty to have committed an offense (or a crime). If a car was found to be speeding 3x the limit, while driving in a wrong direction and overtaking while on a pedestrian crossing and the police failed to investigate who was driving the car the owner cannot be fined. Probably in such case they would call the owner to the police, than to the court and question him who was the driver of that car on that day. If he says ‘I’ll not tell you’ he will be a subject of a fine, but FOR NOT REVEALING THE DRIVER’S IDENTITY (100-500 PLN), NOT FOR THE OFFENCES THE CAR HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN. If he/she says ‘I DON’T REMEMBER’ and the police cannot produce a picture or other evidence who was actualcy driving, the CASE IS CLOSED and NO FINE IS IMPOSED. That’s why some traffic fine’s have been transformed into FEEs (eg. if you fail to pay for parking in the city the fine is technicaly a FEE paid by the owner. Otherwise nobody would pay unless caught exiting from the parked car.). Actualy it is also the case for rental and leasing comanies which impose fees eg. for getting any letter from the police and sending it to the driver. They will point you as a driver but they cannot accept or decline any FINE in your name. Even if the foreign governement can impose fine onto the owner of the car (rent-a-car company) and it did so or it was realy a fee imposed on the owner, and the rental agreement allowed, it causes a receiveble on rent-a-car companies account and a liability on your side. It is however a civil law relation (as if you borrowed some money and failed to give back). If they cannot charge your card they need to go to the court, sue you, go through all the proceedings, get the payment warrant etc….. and still it’s not the police who takes care of collecting such payments. I could imagine that the r-a-c company pointed out to the foreign gov. that you were the driver and then the foreign police (in the coutry of the offense) would send you a letter in this case, eg. calling you to reveal the driver, accept the fine etc. That’s possible. But it’s their case, not the one for Polish police. I guess you probably went on a rent-a-car company’s blacklist and will be charged for it if you rent a car with them once again.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
07.03.2017 @ 13:04
Unmarked police cars in Poland.
The banner on one bus I’ve seen in New Zealand said: ‘Thisi is not an unmarked police car, but any other car may be’. This is not the case in Poland. There are few things you should know and you’ll be able to differentiate cars which can be a potential threat from others.
1. Brand. Polish police uses the cars which are popular in Poland. They mostly use: VW Passat, Skoda Superb, Fiat, Kia. A Renault may happen. Occassionaly other cars. They don’t use luxury cars like Mercedes, Audi nor sport cars like Porsche etc. Some BMW were reported but it’s an exception, not the rule. For some reason these cars are mostly sedans. If you see a fancy MercedesS, Audi8, or BMW7 it’s NOT THE POLICE.
1a. Motorcycle. There are some undercover motorcycles in service, but it’s not so easy to undercover a motorcycle. If you see additional lights (not on) on a black motorcycle with a lot of boxes fixed up to the bike. Slow down and have a look. It can be Police. Thus, superbike, enduro, supermoto, chopper bikes are not used by police.
2. Crew. In an unmarked police car there will be always 2 people inside (occupying front seats), unless there is a TV shown being recorded ;-). If there is one person inside – it is NOT THE POLICE CAR. Neither if there are 4 people inside.
3. Dark back window. It’s often that police cars have dark back window, so you cannot see from the back what’s going on inside the car.
4. Engine. Many cars have signs on their trunk saying what model/engine it is. Undercover police cars usually use the biggest petrol engines available in their cars, so it you see a ‘1,8 ltr TDI’ on a Passat it’s probably NOT THE PASSAT you want to avoid.
5. Stickers and additional stuff. Unmarked police cars are cars owned and used by a govt agency. They don’t have a ski rack, a hook, not a sticker ‘Baby on board’ on their trunk. If you see one of these IT’S NOT THE POLICE CAR.
6. Clean cars. For some reasons police cars rarely drive dirty. I’ve never seen a dirty unmarked police cars, so probably you will not see it either unless the weather is realy crappy. The probably wash them before starting the shift.
7. Color. Police usually uses cars that have a dark color. Black, gray, beige, dark blue probably dominate. Haven’t see any red, yellow, pink cars hunting for the drivers.
8. Behaviour. Remember unmarked police cars do not have a speed camera inside. All they have is a built in camera thar records your car, measure the speed OF THEIR CAR and distance to you. To measure your speed they have to either follow you or dirve in front of you with a CONSTANT SPEED, FOR A PERIOD OF TIME (a few seconds), HAVING A FIXED DISTANCE FORM YOU (allowing them to have your plates on the film). Thus, the unmarked police car would try to get directly behind you or in front of you AND STAY THERE for a few seconds. Watch your mirrors. If you passed a slow moving car and the car suddenly changes lanes to your lane and accelerates it’s either some young driver whose ambition has been toughed 😉 or it’s an officer trying to earn some money for the mayor’s office.
Speed safely and don’t get caught!
07.03.2017 @ 13:08
Ah, 9. The plates. The unmarked police cars have regular plates (they are unmarked, right). The plates are usualy from the region they operate in. You do not have to be an experts on Polish license plates, but if all cars around have plates starting with eg. “W” letter (Warsaw region) and you see a car with plates starting with a totaly different letter eg. “O”, “G” etc. It’s probably not a police.
09.03.2017 @ 01:52
Thank you, Potocky.
This is the stuff I’d ike to see more of in these pages – I will try to include your info in the next version of Poland.
19.03.2017 @ 17:46
Thank you SpeedingEurope Team,
I forgot about one very typical unmarked police car brand. Opel Insignia Turbo. Now, it’s probably the most popular.
Cheers!
P
07.03.2017 @ 12:36
Hi SpeedingEurope Team,
One correction to the numbers above. The speed limit on single lane expressways is 100 kmh, but on double lane expressways is 120 km not 110 as you mentioned.
Cheers
Potocki
09.03.2017 @ 01:43
Thank You! Will be corrected .)
25.10.2016 @ 12:52
I got caught for drink driving in Poland 6 months ago and have just received a letter back in the U.K. Calling for payment of 2130PLN from the court. It’s given me 30days to pay which had already expired before I received the letter. What would be there next course of action?
07.03.2017 @ 12:33
What were you sentenced for? A crime? >0,05 alc (‘prowadzenie pojazdu po spożyciu alkoholu’ -driving while intoxicated) or a minor offence? >0,02 alc (‘prowadzenie pojazdu w stanie wskazującym na spożycie alkoholu’ -driving under influence of alcohol or a similar agent)? I don’t know if there is a EU law or an agreement between UK and Poland regarding fines for minor offences but I am pretty sure that I we talk about a sentence for a crime of driving intoxicated there will be paperwork sent to U.K. and U.K. authorities may be forced to collect it.
14.10.2016 @ 14:38
And if speed camera take picture of car that it is not eu plates?
07.03.2017 @ 12:27
Then, the owner of this car may sleep well. 🙂
27.07.2016 @ 16:20
Having the license suspended. As you know (from the top of the page) driving 100 kmh in the city (50 kmh speed limit) will cause your license suspended. It is unconditional (in the sense that a policeman cannot decide not to take away your license). The thing is that there is a hole in the system. If you fail to produce a valid driver’s license to the policeman as you are beeing stopped (you forgot to take it from your house), there is no legal way to force you to send/bring them the license later. In that case there will be no license suspension AT ALL. It will be like that at least until 1 Jan 2017. The problem may be if you do not have a Polish driving license. If have a Polish one, but you will not produce it to the policeman he will check you in the system (whether you are eligible to drive a given vehicle) and fine you for driving without carrying a valid document with a 50 PLN FINE ONLY. So it is the obvious solution. I am not sure however what happens if you have a foreign driving license, but fail to produce it to the policeman. He will not be able to check whether you have the proper license for your vehicle or not…
19.03.2017 @ 17:54
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The parliament has corrected the loophole above. From the 1st of Jan 2017 on faillure to produce a driving licence after being stopped because of speeding over 50 kmh above the limit (eg. 100 kmh at 50 kmh limit) in the city will not prevent you from having the licence suspended for 3 months. So if you have a Polish driving licence and want to speed more than 50 above the limit, be very careful!
14.03.2016 @ 11:19
Hello i received letter of exceeding speed limit while driving in poland. I went there to visit my friend. I live in germany and have german driving license. my question is what if i dont pay ? will i be banned in poland and in germany also? by the way i was using my friends car which is registered in germany. so basically he got the letter.
27.07.2016 @ 15:11
What does it say? You probably will not be banned anywhere. If it is a speed camera they need first to prove who was driving. They cannot force you to pay the ticket unless they have a proof that you were behind the wheel. What you probably got is the letter asking you to reveal who was driving. You may not answer but better is to answer that you don’t remember or say that you borrowed your car to somebody. It is generally difficult for them to prove who was driving and they usualy give up in more complicated cases. I don’t think anybody would know that you haven’t paid after they stop you in Poland. There are different systems. They would know if you eg. earned more than 24 points or we a subject of a arrest warrant, but not because a failure to pay road fines. I live in Poland often do not pay fines and nothing happens on the road.
12.11.2015 @ 11:46
Hi,
I recieved 400zl fine in court of Poland. Does anybody know, where should I transfer that fine??? Or should I just ignore it, unless they stop me next time and add some penalty? 🙂
18.01.2016 @ 17:50
Have You paid already? Each court in Poland has got a webside with many informations, one of them is always the number of bank account to pay the fines. Unfortunatelly that’s in polish, but maybe You can ask someone to help translate.
25.08.2015 @ 14:24
Anybody can say me if I want to check my driving license in Poland is it original of copy then how I check this any suggestions please.
31.07.2015 @ 22:47
The 2004 comments and the “other points” below were written by me. They were true at the time and I suppose are of historical interest, but times have changed massively since then so don’t any longer place reliance on them.
Those were good times, when I could try my K1200 RS on the new highway near Opole at 250kph, even passing a parked police car, without any problem, or get stopped at 180kph in a 70kph and negotiate for PLN 50 (just over £10).
But those times are no more, as (mostly) are fortunately the ruts on corners that could ditch you in the nearby field.
The roads are (a bit) safer. Speeding isn’t.
Be careful, have fun.
16.08.2015 @ 11:30
Thank You, Andrew!
10.02.2016 @ 01:08
Thinking like that is really imessrpive
30.07.2015 @ 18:56
What if i dont pay ,,mandat karny,, for speeding ? Is there an expiration date ( normaly is 1 year in CZ ) ? Or can they give me some penalty next time or will they send me home something ?
23.07.2015 @ 14:13
Good web site for Polish speedcams: http://www.poipoint.eu
28.06.2015 @ 02:28
No problem. I thought that my comments were simply rejected. That’s why I posted that comment. Sorry. You are doing a great job running this site. Stationary radars (always in yellow boxes, and followed by warning signs) may photograph both from the front and from the rear. The same is with mobile radars, but those usually tend to follow cars that are speeding not go in front of them. (It’s probably due to the fact that that Polish law does not allow unmarked police cars to speed or break other traffic regulations. It’s ‘grey’ zone. Normaly police will not accuse a policemen on duty for speeding, but if you prove that a police car was speeding even though it wasn’t following anybody in front of the court of justice… who knows.). However it happens that an unmarked police car would record you while driving in front of you (although it is not very often).
Speed safely!
25.05.2015 @ 00:40
I’ve posted 2 post about speeding regulations and conditions in Poland. I see they are no longer there, so I understand they didn’t go through moderation process. I was going to post a 3rd one, but I see you don’t want other people to participate and update your informations (except from saying ‘very good’). It’s said.
Cheers
P
19.06.2015 @ 00:20
Sorry, Potocki. I am very sorry for my late response – and thank you for your posts.
I started this web last winter, got no response and forgot to check and approve the comments …(
I will get back to your info and will try to integrate with the standard text.
One question: Does the Finnish radars photograph the vehicles from the front (as in Norway) or from the rear (as in Spain)?
Speed safely!
30.05.2017 @ 12:05
In a motorway or a dual expressway they will do it by the front, but if you’re driving in a national road like the DK10, then it will be both
22.05.2015 @ 23:52
Guys, the law you mentioned have finally been introduced in Poland. Now, you can lose you licence for 3 months for exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/h in a built-up area.
18.05.2015 @ 17:40
From May,18 2015 in Poland the driving licence will be automatically suspended by the police officer for speeding more than 50 kph over the limit (ex. 100 kph within the built-up area).
“Bikes have to have lights on all year round.” – Cars and motorbikes have to have lights on all year round. Bikes (bicycles) have to have lights on only from dusk till dawn.
19.06.2015 @ 00:18
Thank You.
This was new info and it will be included. But remember that Norway will jail you for 50 kph plus …)
28.06.2015 @ 02:35
That’s true but personaly I believe that’s a sign of a absolute madnes. In Norway they put you in jail for driving over 150 kmh down the empty motorway, but if you take a gun and kill over a dozen of innocent people they will let you out of jail after doing a 15-25 years in that jail. Absolute nonsense! At least in my personal oppinion…
Speed safely!
02.07.2015 @ 18:10
I could not agree more!
18.05.2015 @ 00:43
A few words about speed cameras. According to the law speed cameras in Poland are allowed only if they are installed in yellow colored boxes or inside a police or municipal police (Straz Miejska) car and accompanied by a warning sign “Uwaga fotoradar”. Grey boxes still standing at the roads that used to house speed cameras are empty. There are more warning signs then actually the cameras, so they can be installed in different places. Polish law does not make assumptions about the person driving the car in the moment of picture being taken. After the car has been caught speeding and the picture is been taken the procedure of driver identification starts. The police identifies the owner of the car and sends him/her a letter demanding to reveal the personality of the driver. The owner is generaly legaly obliged to do so, however failure to do so is a subject to a fine which is generaly smaller than speeding itslef (and there are no penalty points for it). The easiest way the driver can do not to get points is to fail to reveal the personality of the driver and accept the fine for doing so. Those with more legal expertise may try to fail to reveal the personality of the driver and NOT accept the fine for doing so. That brigns the case to the court of law (usually, sometimes police gives up). There are some exceptions where a person is not obliged to testify against a family member. Also ‘not remembering’ who the driver was sometimes works. You need to know that courts nearly alway give a sentence against the driver in the first instance (simplified procedure). To realy get in front of the court you need to object the 1st instance sentence. Then normal trial starts. Drivers often win at the court or loose getting a fine similar to what they would get from the police but later. If you are a foreigner and do not care about penalty points it may be simpliest to confess and accept the fine for speeding. However beware of new regulations regarding driving license suspension for >50kmh over the limit in town. You will never loose you license for failing to reveal the personality of the driver even if it’s definitely you sitting inside the car!
Speed safely!
18.05.2015 @ 00:24
Today is a dark day for drivers and speeders in Poland. From today on, for the first time in history the police is obliged to take away the driving license or a driver who exceeds the allowed speed limit IN THE CITY by 50 kmh or more. The person who does that faces a suspension of his/her driving license for 3 moths. Technicaly you still can drive for 24 hours after being caught. Then you need to stop. Execution of these laws against foreign drivers is still a question. Will let you know after consulting my lawyers.
Speed safely!
28.06.2015 @ 03:24
One moderately good news.. Polish judges are strongly against driving license suspension law. They filed a notion to Ombundsman asking him to apply to the Constitutional Court to proclaim the new law be against the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (what would mean aboliton of this law if so). We will see whether the Ombundsman will proceed the case and what Constitutional Court will say. It may take months or even over a year, but there is slight hope that the normality will return one day…
Speed safely!
29.02.2016 @ 12:56
Hypothetically speaking: If as a UK citizen I were to receive a letter from the Polish authorities, accusing me of doing 105/km/h in a 50km/h zone in a hire car hired in my name. What would you suggest my best course of action to be?
27.07.2016 @ 16:35
Rule no 1. DON’T CONFESS. The first is the the form of the letter they’ve sent you. If it is a registered letter, it maybe better to answer. If it is not (you haven’t confirmed receiving the letter anyhow) just ignore it. What language is the letter in? If it is in Polish I wouldn’t answer. As a British citizen you do not have to speak Polish (even if you actualy speak that language perfectly). If it is in English and the know that you received it, the question is what’s inside. They probably want you to confess that it was you driving, or point the driver or fail to point the driver and accept the fine for not pointing the driver. DO NOT CONFESS. You may fail to confess and accept the fine (which is 400PLN I think, which is less that a speeding ticket). That ends the case. If you want to play a bit you may point somebody, who you lend the car for a short while (but you do not know whether he/she was dirving). That person may be living……in Australia, or Vanuatu…. Than, thay would have to send the same letter there. And what if that person says that he/she lend the car to somebody leaving in … Turks and Caicos…? 😉 The time flies and they have only 1 year to accuse somebody and 2 years to fine him. Practicaly: the will give up after receiving your letter. If you fail to point out the driver but DO NOT ACCEPT the fine for not pointing or reply them stating that they eg. should have a sexual intercourse with somebody from their family/dog etc., or simply do not reply at all, they may bring the case to the court. It is not always bad to get to the court, but it can be a problem for you as you live in Britain and may not speak Polish. I sometimes choose to go to the court, where I usualy win, but I am living in Poland, speak Polish and have studied law.
27.07.2016 @ 16:37
And remember there is no way they can force you to give them the license and have it suspended unless you hand it to the policeman AT THE MOMENT YOU WERE STOPPED after speeding over 49 kmh over the limit in the city.
14.11.2018 @ 21:03
Had accident incidently and same moment police rushed to spot took the car documents and passport of no eu resident who is waiting for work permit…. asked him to come for hearing in court…. tell some solution
22.11.2018 @ 19:13
Well, I don’t quite understand. What’s exactly the problem?
25.09.2024 @ 13:28
” should have a sexual intercourse with somebody from their family/dog etc. ”
Dzienki. That made me laugh.