Unofficial translation for learning purposes. Only the Polish text published in Dziennik Ustaw is legally binding — open the Polish original. Source: Act of 20 June 1997 – Prawo o ruchu drogowym (Road Traffic Act), consolidated text published by the Chancellery of the Sejm.
Art. 3.
1. A road user and any other person on the road are obliged to exercise care or, where the Act so requires, particular care, to avoid any action which could cause a danger to the safety or order of road traffic, impede that traffic or, in connection with the traffic, disturb public peace or order, and expose anyone to harm. An action is also understood to include an omission.
2. The provision of para. 1 applies accordingly to a person in the vicinity of the road if their conduct could entail the consequences referred to in that provision.
3. If a road user or another person has nevertheless caused a danger to road traffic safety, they are obliged to take the necessary measures to remove the danger without delay and, if they are unable to do so, they should warn other road users of the danger.
Art. 4.
A road user and any other person on the road have the right to expect that other users of that traffic comply with the road traffic rules, unless the circumstances indicate that they may behave otherwise.
Art. 5.
1. A road user and any other person on the road are obliged to comply with the orders and signals given by persons directing traffic or authorised to control it, with light signals and with road signs, even where the provisions of the Act require conduct other than that ordered by those persons, those light signals or those road signs.
2. Orders and signals given by persons directing traffic or authorised to control it take precedence over light signals and road signs.
3. Light signals take precedence over road signs governing the right of way.
Art. 6.
1. Orders or signals may be given to a road user or another person on the road by:
1) a police officer;
2) a soldier of the Military Police or of a military order-keeping body, securing the march or passage of a military column or in the event of an operation to save life or property;
3) an officer of the Border Guard;
3a) an inspector of the Road Transport Inspectorate;
3b) a uniformed officer of the Customs and Fiscal Service;
3c) a municipal (town) guard;
4) a railway employee at a level crossing;
5) a person acting on behalf of the road administrator or a person carrying out works on the road on the instructions of or with the consent of the road administrator;
6) a person supervising the safe crossing of the carriageway by children at a designated place;
7) the driver of a school bus at stopping places connected with children getting on or off;
7a) a mountain rescuer while performing activities connected with conducting a rescue operation;
7b) a water rescuer while performing activities connected with conducting a rescue operation;
8) a forest guard or an officer of the Park Guard - in the area of a forest or of a national park respectively;
9) a firefighter of the State Fire Service, if performing the tasks specified in Art. 1(2) of the Act of 24 August 1991 on the State Fire Service (Dz. U. z 2025 r. poz. 1312 i 1366);
9a) a rescue firefighter of a volunteer fire service, if performing the tasks of volunteer fire services specified in Art. 3 of the Act of 17 December 2021 on volunteer fire services (Dz. U. z 2025 r. poz. 244 i 900);
10) a firefighter of a volunteer fire service, if performing the tasks of volunteer fire services specified in Art. 3 of the Act of 17 December 2021 on volunteer fire services;
11) an officer of the State Protection Service while performing activities connected with ensuring the safety of protected persons, facilities and installations;
12) a pilot while performing activities connected with piloting the passage of an oversize vehicle.
2. The persons referred to in para. 1 and in para. 4 point 2 should be easily recognisable and visible from a sufficient distance, both by day and by night.
3. The provision of para. 2 as regards easy recognisability:
1) applies to the persons listed in para. 1 points 1 and 3 only outside a built-up area;
2) does not apply to the driver of a school bus if the signal to stop other vehicles is given by that person without leaving the appropriately marked vehicle.
3a. The persons referred to in para. 1 points 4-8, 10 and 12 and in para. 4 point 2 may give orders or signals to a road user or another person on the road provided that they have completed training organised by a voivodeship road traffic centre or the training referred to in Art. 8 point 5 of the Act of 17 December 2021 on volunteer fire services. A pilot securing the passage of an oversize vehicle who is a person referred to in para. 1 points 1-3c and 9 is not required to undergo the training.
3b. The training referred to in para. 3a may be conducted for a fee. The fee is borne by the entity sending the person for the training and, in other cases, by the person undergoing the training. The maximum fee for training one person may not exceed 30 % of the minimum remuneration for work established under the provisions on the minimum remuneration for work.
4. The minister responsible for internal affairs, in agreement with the minister responsible for transport, taking into account the need to ensure safety and order while road traffic is being directed and the efficient performance of activities in this respect, shall, by way of a regulation:
1) specify the organisation and manner of performing the activities referred to in para. 1, the programme and procedure for conducting training in this respect, the model certificate of completion of the training, the amount of the training rates and the procedure for collecting and refunding them, taking into account in particular the average real costs of organising and conducting the training;
2) may authorise other persons to perform the activities referred to in para. 1, and specify the circumstances, the detailed conditions and the manner of performing the activities in this respect, as well as the conditions which those persons must meet;
3) specify the model uniform of the persons referred to in para. 1 points 4-6.
Art. 7.
1. Road signs and signals express warnings, prohibitions, orders or information.
3a. The minister responsible for transport, in agreement with the minister responsible for internal affairs and the Minister of National Defence, shall specify, by way of a regulation:
1) the models, meanings and scopes of application of road signs and signals in road traffic,
2) the models or types and the scopes of use of road traffic safety devices,
3) the conditions to be met by road signs and traffic lights and by road traffic safety devices,
4) the basic conditions for siting road signs and traffic lights and road traffic safety devices within the road lane - taking into account the provisions of international agreements and the legibility and comprehensibility of road signs and signals for road users, as well as the need to ensure road traffic safety.
3b. The minister responsible for transport may issue, disseminate or recommend models and standards concerning the detailed conditions for siting road signs and traffic lights and road traffic safety devices within the road lane, in the form of studies, on the terms specified in Art. 17(3) and (4) of the Act of 21 March 1985 on public roads.
Art. 8.
1. A disabled person holding a parking card who is driving an automotive vehicle marked with that card may disregard certain road signs concerning prohibitions of traffic or parking, to the extent specified in the provisions referred to in Art. 7(3a).
2. The provision of para. 1 also applies to:
1) the driver of a vehicle who is transporting a disabled person holding a parking card;
2) the driver of a vehicle belonging to an institution referred to in para. 3a point 3, transporting a person with significantly limited ability to move independently who is in the care of such an institution.
3. The parking card is placed behind the windscreen of the automotive vehicle and, if the vehicle has no windscreen - in a visible place in the front part of the vehicle, in a way that exposes the visible security features of the card and makes it possible to read its number and expiry date.
3a. A parking card is issued to:
1) a disabled person classified as having a significant or moderate degree of disability who has a significantly limited ability to move independently;
2) a disabled person who is under 16 years of age and has a significantly limited ability to move independently;
3) an institution providing care, rehabilitation or education for disabled persons with a significantly limited ability to move independently.
4. A parking card is issued, for a fee, to the person referred to in para. 3a points 1 and 2 by the chairperson of the district disability assessment board referred to in Art. 6(1) point 1 of the Act of 27 August 1997 on vocational and social rehabilitation and on the employment of disabled persons (Dz. U. z 2024 r. poz. 44 i 858), on the basis of the following issued by a disability assessment board:
1) a decision on disability,
2) a decision on the degree of disability,
3) a decision on entitlement to concessions and privileges - together with the indication referred to in Art. 6b(3) point 9 of the Act of 27 August 1997 on vocational and social rehabilitation and on the employment of disabled persons.
5. A parking card is issued, for a fee, to the institution referred to in para. 3a point 3 by the chairperson of the district disability assessment board on the basis of the documents submitted by the applicant, whereby one card is issued for one vehicle used to transport disabled persons.
5c. A parking card is issued to the person referred to in para. 3a points 1 and 2 for the period of validity of the decision referred to in para. 4, but for no longer than 5 years, and to the institution referred to in para. 3a point 3 for a period of 3 years.
5d. If a vehicle ceases to be used to transport disabled persons with a significantly limited ability to move independently, the entity managing the institution referred to in Art. 8(3a) point 3 is obliged to return the parking card without delay to the authority which issued it.
5e. A parking card ceases to be valid:
1) upon expiry of the card's period of validity;
2) where the loss of the card is reported by the person or institution to which it was issued;
3) where the card is returned to the authority which issued it;
4) where the institution to which the card was issued is wound up;
5) in the event of the death of the person to whom the card was issued.
5f. The minister responsible for social security shall select the producer of parking card blanks in compliance with the provisions of the Act of 11 September 2019 - Public Procurement Law (Dz. U. z 2023 r. poz. 1605 i 1720).
6. The provision of para. 1 applies accordingly to drivers of vehicles provided with a parking card issued abroad.
6a. The fee for issuing a parking card may not exceed 1 % of the average monthly remuneration in the national economy in the previous year, announced for pension purposes in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland "Monitor Polski" by the President of Statistics Poland.
6b. The fee for issuing a parking card constitutes revenue of the state budget.
7. The minister responsible for social security, in agreement with the minister responsible for transport, shall specify, by way of a regulation:
1) the model of parking cards and the procedure for issuing them to the persons referred to in para. 3a points 1 and 2 and to the institutions referred to in para. 3a point 3, taking into account in particular the need to ensure a uniform procedure for issuing parking cards and the need to secure the card technically in a way that guarantees its authenticity, as well as the need to align the model of the parking card with the solutions adopted in European countries, so as to enable disabled persons to use the concessions and privileges in road traffic laid down in national law;
2) the rules for assigning numbers to the parking cards issued, taking into account in particular the need to create an efficient system for issuing and registering the cards and for checking that they are used correctly, and the fact that in the case of the cards referred to in para. 3a point 3 the registration number of the vehicle forms part of the card number;
3) the procedure for the return of a parking card, bearing in mind the need to ensure a uniform procedure for returning parking cards;
4) the model application for a parking card, bearing in mind the need to ensure a uniform form of the applications submitted.
8. The minister responsible for social security, in agreement with the minister responsible for transport and the minister responsible for health, shall specify, by way of a regulation, the types of institutions providing care, rehabilitation or education for disabled persons with a significantly limited ability to move that are entitled to obtain a parking card, bearing in mind the need to ensure that cards are issued to the appropriate institutions.
9. The minister responsible for social security shall specify, by way of a regulation:
1) the amount of the fee for issuing a parking card, taking into account the costs connected with its production and distribution;
2) the conditions for distributing parking card blanks, bearing in mind the need to ensure that the process of delivering those cards to the district disability assessment boards is efficient and secure.
Art. 8b.
1. A member of the Corps of Veterans of the Struggles for the Independence of the Republic of Poland who holds a combatant card and is driving an automotive vehicle marked with that card may disregard certain road signs concerning prohibitions of traffic or parking, on the terms laid down for a disabled person holding a parking card who is driving an automotive vehicle marked with the card referred to in Art. 8(1).
2. The provision of para. 1 also applies to the driver of a vehicle who is transporting a member of the Corps of Veterans of the Struggles for the Independence of the Republic of Poland holding a combatant card.
Art. 9.
1. A road user and any other person on the road are obliged to facilitate the passage of an emergency vehicle, in particular by immediately moving out of its path and, if necessary, by stopping.
2. In conditions of increased traffic density that impede the free passage of an emergency vehicle, in order to enable that vehicle to pass freely:
1) on a carriageway with two traffic lanes in the same direction, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the left lane is obliged to clear the path of the emergency vehicle by moving as close as possible to the left edge of the lane, and the driver of a vehicle travelling in the right lane is obliged to clear the path of the emergency vehicle by moving as close as possible to the right edge of the lane;
2) on a carriageway with more than two traffic lanes in the same direction, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the extreme left lane is obliged to clear the path of the emergency vehicle by moving as close as possible to the left edge of the lane, and the drivers of vehicles travelling in the remaining lanes are obliged to clear the path of the emergency vehicle by moving as close as possible to the right edge of those lanes.
3. The driver of a vehicle other than an emergency vehicle is prohibited from using the path created for the emergency vehicle in the manner referred to in para. 2. The driver of a vehicle may continue driving in the lane previously occupied once the emergency vehicle has passed.
4. The provision of para. 3 does not apply to vehicles of road administrators or of a roadside assistance service taking part in a rescue operation.
Art. 10.
1. The minister responsible for transport exercises supervision over traffic management on national roads.
2. The voivode exercises supervision over traffic management on:
1) voivodeship roads;
2) district (poviat) roads;
3) municipal roads;
4) public roads located in cities with district status and in the capital city of Warsaw;
5) internal roads located in traffic zones or residential zones.
3. The General Director for National Roads and Motorways manages traffic on national roads, subject to para. 6.
4. The marshal of the voivodeship manages traffic on voivodeship roads, subject to para. 6.
5. The district governor (starosta) manages traffic on district and municipal roads, subject to para. 6.
6. The mayor of a city manages traffic on public roads located in cities with district status, with the exception of motorways and expressways.
7. The management of traffic on internal roads, including in a traffic zone and a residential zone, rests with the entity managing those roads.
8. The General Director for National Roads and Motorways may entrust tasks relating to traffic management on national roads to the marshal of the voivodeship.
9. National, voivodeship, district and municipal roads are the public roads designated as such under the provisions on public roads.
10. The authorities exercising supervision over traffic management on roads may order a change in the traffic organisation on account of an important public interest or the need to ensure transit traffic.
10a. The entities managing the roads referred to in para. 7, when establishing the traffic organisation on those roads, apply the road signs and signals and the rules for placing them that follow from the Act and its implementing provisions. The cost of signing an internal road is borne by the entity managing the road.
10b. Traffic on a road takes place on the basis of an approved traffic organisation, which is understood to mean:
1) the geometry of the road and the extent of access to the road;
2) the manner of placing vertical signs, road markings, traffic lights and road traffic safety devices;
3) the principles and manner of operation of traffic signalling, light signals, variable-message signs and other variable elements.
10c. Where construction works concerning a road are carried out which require a building permit decision or a decision authorising the implementation of a road investment, or a notification of the performance of construction works, the traffic organisation plan is drawn up before the proceedings for issuing those decisions are initiated or before the notification is made.
11. The minister responsible for transport, bearing in mind the need to protect roads against destruction and to ensure traffic safety during periods of increased density of passenger vehicle traffic, may introduce, by way of a regulation, temporary restrictions on the movement of vehicles on roads or a prohibition on the movement of certain types of vehicles.
12. The minister responsible for transport, in agreement with the minister responsible for internal affairs and the Minister of National Defence, taking into account in particular:
1) the need to ensure the safety of all road users,
2) the need to make effective use of public roads,
3) the needs of the local community, shall specify, by way of a regulation, the detailed conditions for managing traffic on roads and for exercising supervision over such management.