Polish Sejm approves three-month driving ban for running a red light — RMF24
The Polish Sejm has adopted amendments to legislation providing for the loss of the right to drive vehicles for three months for entering a railway crossing on a prohibitory signal. A total of 422 deputies voted for the amendments to the Road Traffic Act, five voted against and two abstained. The document must now be considered by the Senate.
New sanctions
As RMF24 reports, the three-month driving ban is proposed for entering a crossing when barriers are closed, on a red traffic light signal, or when the driver is unable to continue driving and leave the tracks.
The changes also provide for a mandatory driving ban if a driver is convicted of causing a catastrophe or an accident at a railway crossing. Such a ban must last at least three years. If a driver is convicted of creating an immediate danger of a catastrophe at a crossing, the minimum ban period will be one year.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Current rules and accidents
Currently, violating rules at a railway crossing in Poland carries a fine of 2,000 zlotys and 15 penalty points. For a repeated such violation within two years, the fine is 4,000 zlotys. The sanctions apply, in particular, to driving through on a red or flashing signal, crossing tracks while a barrier is being lowered or has not risen, bypassing closed barriers, and entering tracks when there is no free space on the other side of the crossing.
According to police data cited by Poland's Ministry of Infrastructure, 39 accidents occurred at railway crossings in 2024: 23 people were killed and another 29 were injured. By the end of August 2026, 35 such accidents had been recorded, killing 16 people and injuring 40. In 30 cases, vehicle drivers were found at fault.
The Ministry of Infrastructure explained the changes by the high death toll and severe consequences of accidents at crossings. They were a response to a collision between a truck and an InterCity train in Sokolniki-Suche, in the Masovian Voivodeship: according to preliminary investigation data, the truck driver drove onto the tracks on a red signal.
