New regulations coming into effect June 3, 2026, will limit drivers’ ability to reduce penalty points through retraining courses in Poland.
Changes to Penalty Points in 2026
Significant changes to Poland’s driving penalty point system will take effect on June 3, 2026. The new rules will restrict the reduction of points following a retraining course, meaning a course will no longer always allow for a reduction in the number of points. The changes also encompass a revised catalog of offenses and rules for maintaining driver records.
Reduction of Points Limited for Serious Offenses
From June 3, 2026, regulations will prevent the reduction of penalty points for the most serious offenses. This means that retraining courses will no longer allow points to be “removed” for certain violations, potentially increasing the risk of license suspension for exceeding the permissible limit. Currently, a driver can lose their license after accumulating 24 penalty points (or 20 points during a probationary period).
New Regulations Based on October 2025 Law
The new regulation is a consequence of changes introduced by the Act of October 17, 2025, and adapts the regulations to the new rules regarding penalty points.
Limited Retraining for Selected Violations
The most important change is that the ability to reduce the number of points after retraining will be limited to selected offenses, with a detailed catalog of these violations specified in the regulation. The new regulations largely repeat existing solutions but introduce necessary corrections resulting from the amendment and clarify issues that arose during the application of previous regulations.
Implementation Date
The new regulations and implementing regulation will come into force on June 3, 2026, six months after the publication of the Act.
Restricted Retraining and New Rules for 2026
Many drivers previously viewed retraining as a way to reduce the number of penalty points. After the new regulations come into effect, this possibility will be limited. Point reduction after a course will only apply to selected traffic violations. For some offenses, retraining will no longer allow for their reduction. This change aims to increase the effectiveness of the penalty point system and limit opportunities to circumvent it.
Reductions After Training – Eligible Offenses
The draft regulation provides a catalog of offenses for which a driver will be able to reduce the number of penalty points after completing training.
Point Reduction Amounts
In such cases, a driver may receive 1 to 8 penalty points, which can be partially reduced after completing the training.
Offenses Ineligible for Point Reduction
Simultaneously, the most serious violations endangering road safety have been excluded from the possibility of point reduction. Retraining will not allow for a reduction in the number of penalty points in these cases. This includes:
Summing of Penalty Points – New Rules in 2026
The new regulations clarify the rules for calculating points when a driver’s behavior violates several regulations simultaneously. As a rule, points are still summed, but important exceptions have been introduced.
Preventing Multiple Penalties for a Single Incident
The changes aim to prevent situations where a driver is repeatedly penalized for a single traffic incident, particularly when one maneuver results in multiple violations of the rules.
Expanded List of Non-Summing Situations
The new regulations expand the list of situations where penalty points are not summed, including cases of creating a hazard in traffic without causing injury and intentionally causing a vehicle to skid or lose traction. The changes mean that a single traffic incident will be assessed holistically, rather than broken down into several separate violations.
Driver Registry and Penalty Points – New Rules
The new regulations also streamline the technical issues related to the driver registry, including:
Precise Data in Records
Documents will also include more precise data, such as the date from which the 12-month period for removing points from the registry is calculated.
Automatic Point Removal – New Restrictions in 2026
It is worth remembering that penalty points can not only be reduced during training but are also automatically removed from the registry after 12 months from the date the fine is paid. This mechanism remains in effect, but – as in the case of reducing courses – will be limited by a new list of exclusions. This means that for some more serious offenses, points will not be automatically removed after a year.
Exceeding 24 Penalty Points – New Control Rules in 2026
The new regulation clarifies the rules for referring drivers for a mandatory qualification check after exceeding 24 penalty points. The key will be the status of the registry on the date the limit is exceeded, not the time the police submit the request.
Preventing Circumvention of Consequences
This is to prevent situations where a driver avoids consequences solely because some points were subsequently removed from the system.
Requests for Qualification Checks
The draft also specifies that a request for a qualification check will not be directed to individuals whose driving privileges have been revoked for more than one year.
Scale of the Penalty Point System
The scale of the penalty point system is very large – approximately 4 million traffic violations are reported to the police registry each year. This means that the changes may affect a very large number of drivers. The new regulations do not change the idea of penalty points, but they tighten the rules for their reduction.
Legal Basis
Act of October 17, 2025, amending the Act – Road Traffic Act and other acts (Journal of Laws 2025 item 1676)
Draft regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration regarding the registry of drivers violating traffic rules – No. 1309 from the register