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No driving licence in pocket – Amendment of the Road Traffic Law Act

From the entry into force of the amendment to the road law, road traffic control authorities will be able to verify the rights of drivers within the information system serving the central driver registration.

From the entry into force of the amendment to the road law, road traffic control authorities will be able to verify the rights of drivers within the information system serving the central driver registration.

Day 25 August 2020 The President signed the bill from the day 14 August 2020 on the amendment of the Act – Traffic Law...

From the entry into force of the amendment to the road law, road traffic control authorities will be able to verify the rights of drivers within the information system serving the central driver registration.

Day 25 August 2020 The President signed the bill from the day 14 August 2020 amending the Act – Road Traffic Law and certain other laws (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Newisation’), providing for a number of simplifications concerning the obligations of vehicle holders, including, inter alia, exemption from the obligation to carry and show a driving licence in the course of road traffic control or the obligation to have a check sticker.

Only a national driver's license will stay at home

It does not go completely to the lamest well-known to all drivers the obligation to carry with it a document confirming the right to drive the vehicle currently results from Article 38(1) the Road Traffic Law (hereinafter the ‘PORD’), which provides that the driver of the vehicle is obliged to carry and show, at the request of the authorised authority, a vehicle type or a document stating the right to drive. However, it should be borne in mind that the exemption from the obligation to have a driving licence will apply only to drivers who have a driving licence issued in Poland.

Content so far Article 38(1) The Pord will change so that the manager will be required to carry and show to check a document stating the right to drive a vehicle other than that issued in the country or the authorisation to drive a tram if the manager does not have a licence issued in the country or the authorisation to drive a tram

Digital stop

There will also be proceedings for the retention of a driving licence. To date, it had two forms: first was based on the actual detention of a driving licence by an officer and was therefore called physical detention, whereas in the second case the competent authority issued a decision or decision to retain the driving licence, which was a legal form of retention of the driving licence.

As a result of the Amendment, the retention of the issued driving licence will consist in the introduction by the road traffic control authority of information on the retention of the driving licence to the central driver registration and will be passed on to public administrations for consideration.

However, drivers will not have the opportunity to release themselves from the documents relating to the driving licence in such a way as, in the case of an ‘e-stop’ driving vehicle, they will receive a receipt which they will be obliged to carry with them during its period of validity, provided that the authority authorised to control road traffic allows the driver to continue driving.

Entry into force only after the communication

In order to enter into force of the provisions enabling driving without a driving licence, it is necessary that the Minister responsible for the computerisation of the additional communication is given. He shall be required to publish such communication within at least the time limit 3 months before the date of implementation of the technical solutions set out in that Communication and only after the date of implementation set out in that Communication, the changes in the scope will enter into force.

As implementation work is likely to continue for a while, the deadline for the entry into force of the Novelization in this respect remains still indefinite, so we will still have to be patient and wait before we leave the driving licence at home, as can be done with the registration certificate.

Author: Michał Skwarek - a solicitor's application in the legal department Russell Bedford Poland. Graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

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