Driving on motorways and expressways in Poland: rules, gap and fines

By car: 140 km/h on a motorway, 120 on a dual-carriageway expressway, 100 on a single-carriageway one, 80 with a trailer. Keep at least half your speed in metres (70 m at 140 km/h). No reversing, U-turns (on an expressway outside a junction) or stopping outside a MOP. Breakdown: triangle 100 m behind the car.

Who may enter a motorway or an expressway

Both roads are intended exclusively for motor vehicles, excluding quadricycles (art. 2 points 3 and 4 of the Road Traffic Act, Prawo o ruchu drogowym). The definition of a motorway adds a condition: the vehicle must be capable of reaching at least 40 km/h on a level, even carriageway, also with a trailer.

Bicycles, mopeds, e-scooters, agricultural tractors and pedestrians have no access there. Entering with a vehicle for which the road is not intended costs 250 zł (PLN) (fines tariff, item 156). The 40 km/h describes the technical capability of the vehicle, not the speed you drive at, and the question catalogue tests exactly that distinction.

How fast you may go: limit table for cars, trailers and buses

The limits are set out in art. 20(3)-(4) of the Road Traffic Act. They depend on the type of road and on what you are driving. Valid as of September 2026.

A bus that meets additional technical conditions may travel at 100 km/h on a motorway and an expressway (art. 20(4)).

The most common trap is the trailer. A car with a trailer, even a light one, is a vehicle combination and drives at 80 km/h on a motorway (question 8898, answer A). You must not exceed this speed even when overtaking (question 13670: NO). Which trailers you may tow with category B is covered in our article on towing a trailer with category B, code 96 and B+E.

The second trap is the minimum speed. The Act does not set one. Art. 19(1)-(2) applies: you drive at a speed that lets you keep control of the vehicle and does not obstruct other traffic, no higher than the limit. Question 4613 has answer C (a safe speed, not obstructing others, no higher than the limit), and question 13058 answer A (a speed that ensures control of the vehicle, no higher than 140 km/h). Answers with the figure 40 or 60 km/h are distractors.

Fines and points for speeding on a motorway

The amounts come from the fines tariff (items 72-81), the points from the regulation on the register of drivers who breach the rules, in force from 3 June 2026. A repeat offence, meaning the same offence within 2 years, doubles the fine for exceeding the limit by more than 30 km/h.

The 3-month licence suspension for more than 50 km/h over the limit applies in a built-up area and, from 3 March 2026, also on a single-carriageway two-way road outside one. A motorway and a dual-carriageway expressway are not such a road, so that sanction does not apply there. What remains is a fine of up to 2500 zł (5000 zł for a repeat offence) and 15 points. The procedure for having your licence taken is described in our article on speed limits and fines, and the consequences of exceeding the points limit in the piece on penalty points and losing your licence.

What gap you must keep: half your speed in metres

On a motorway and an expressway there is a numerical minimum gap to the vehicle ahead of you in the same lane: no fewer metres than half the figure of your speed in km/h (art. 19(3a)). The rule does not apply while overtaking.

Too small a gap costs you 300-500 zł (item 153) and 5 points. The catalogue asks about this in question 13038: a car is travelling on a motorway at the maximum permitted speed, that is 140 km/h, so the minimum gap is 70 m (answer B).

In a tunnel longer than 500 m outside a built-up area, the minimum is 50 m for a vehicle up to 3.5 t DMC or a bus and 80 m for a vehicle combination and other vehicles (art. 19(4)). Question 3650 about a 600 m tunnel has answer A (no less than 50 m), and question 10398 about a 100 m gap has answer NO. The fine is also 300-500 zł (item 83). Where the half-your-speed figure comes from and how many metres you cover per second is explained in our article on braking distance, reaction time and a safe following distance.

Which lane to drive in and whether you may overtake on the right

Art. 16(4) requires you to drive as close as possible to the right-hand edge of the carriageway and to occupy only one lane. The left lane is for overtaking; after the manoeuvre you return to the right. Question 10499, whether on a motorway you may use any lane regardless of the situation, has answer NO. Straddling two lanes at once costs 150 zł (item 56) and 6 points.

Overtaking on the right is permitted on a one-way carriageway (art. 24(10)), and a motorway carriageway is one-way. So on a motorway and on a dual-carriageway expressway (a one-way carriageway with marked lanes) you may overtake on the right, provided the general safety conditions are met. On a single-carriageway expressway, where the carriageway is two-way, you may do so only when there are at least three lanes in your direction (art. 24(10) point 2). Questions 1480, 13664 and 3645 have answer YES.

Lorries with a DMC above 3.5 t (N2 and N3) and combinations longer than 7 m on a road with three or more lanes in one direction use only the two right-hand lanes (art. 16(2a), 6 points). On a road with only two lanes, an N2 or N3 lorry may not overtake a motor vehicle unless that vehicle is travelling much slower than the lorry's own limit (art. 24(13)-(14); catalogue 13622 NO, 13518 YES, 13519 NO, 13632 NO). Driving against the flow, meaning in the direction opposite to that required by the Act or the signs, costs 2000 zł (item 154) and 15 points.

What is not allowed: U-turns, reversing, towing, parking

A U-turn can be classified in two ways: breaching the ban on U-turns (12 points) or driving in the opposite direction (15 points), because after turning around you are driving against the flow. The points are not added together.

Reversing is banned without exception. Question 6203, whether you have the right to reverse on a motorway after switching on the hazard lights, has answer NO, and question 6208 confirms the ban with answer YES.

Towing on a motorway is allowed only by a vehicle designed for towing, and only to the nearest exit or service area (art. 31(2) point 5). You cannot tow a friend with your car even to the nearest exit: question 10080 has answer A (No). The provision names only the motorway, so this ban does not apply on an expressway.

The hard shoulder is not a place for a nap. A tired driver stops at a MOP: questions 8812 and 8852 (answer B) concern a lorry and a bus, but the rule in art. 49(3) is the same for everyone.

Breakdown or accident on a motorway: what to do step by step

On a motorway and an expressway you signal a stop caused by a breakdown or accident in every case (art. 50(1) point 1 and (2) point 1):

1. Switch on the hazard lights. If the vehicle has none, switch on the position lights.
2. Place the reflective warning triangle 100 m behind the vehicle, on the carriageway or the verge, depending on where the vehicle came to a stop.
3. Keep signalling for the whole time you are stopped (para. 3; question 7167: YES).
4. If possible, remove the vehicle from the carriageway and warn others (art. 49(3)).
5. Call roadside assistance, because only a recovery vehicle may tow the car off the motorway.

Failing to signal, or signalling incorrectly, on a motorway or expressway carries a fine of 300 zł (item 159). On other roads outside a built-up area you place the triangle 30-50 m behind the vehicle, and the fine is 150 zł (item 181). The catalogue tests this difference: 6312 (100 m) YES, 6405 answer B (100 m), 7433 (50-70 m) NO, 6301 (30-50 m on an expressway) NO.

If while driving you feel short of breath, your arms go numb and you feel pain around the stomach, you do not carry on to the hospital. You carefully pull onto the hard shoulder, call the emergency medical services (Ratownictwo Medyczne) and undo your seat belt (question 6456, answer B). Your duties after an incident with another vehicle are described in our article on collisions and accidents.

Emergency corridor and zip merging

When heavy traffic makes it hard for an emergency vehicle to get through, you form an emergency corridor (korytarz życia, art. 9(2)). With two lanes in one direction, the driver in the left lane moves as close as possible to the left edge of the lane, and the driver in the right lane as close as possible to the right. With more than two lanes, the far left lane moves to the left and the others to the right. You must not drive along the corridor, and once the emergency vehicle has passed you return to your lane (para. 3). Driving along the emergency corridor costs 500-2500 zł (item 55) and 8 points.

Zip merging (jazda na suwak, art. 22(4a)-(4b)) applies when traffic slows considerably because a lane ends or is blocked by an obstacle: the driver in the adjacent lane, immediately before that point, lets in one vehicle from the ending lane. When two lanes end on both sides of the middle one, first one vehicle from the right, then one from the left.

Leaving the motorway and watching the road

You start braking for the exit only after entering the beginning of the deceleration lane, not in the motorway's running lane (question 10060, answer B; 10481 YES). Before the exit you move into the right-hand lane (10505 and 4155: YES). The signs for the end of a motorway, the end of an expressway and exits are tested in the catalogue with picture questions: 6036, 7291, 10160, 10161, 10165, 10183, 10511.

On a motorway you look far ahead and regularly check the road behind you in the mirrors (6366: C). You watch the whole carriageway and the verge in front of and behind the vehicle (10071: B). In fog on an expressway you keep your line by following the road markings that mark out the lanes (6356: A).

Cheat sheet: catalogue questions on motorways and expressways

You can practise all these questions, together with the rest of the Ministry of Infrastructure catalogue, on the list of category B exam questions. A practical tip for your first trip: once you are on the motorway, look at the speedometer, halve the number and leave that many metres to the car in front. At 140 km/h that is 70 m, far more than an eye used to city gaps would suggest.