Phone at the wheel: 500 zł fine, 12 points and what is allowed in 2026

The fine for using a phone while driving is 500 zł, plus 12 penalty points (from 3 June 2026). The ban in art. 45(2) point 1 of the Road Traffic Act covers using, while driving, a phone that requires holding the handset or microphone in the hand. A hands-free kit and a phone in a holder are allowed.

What exactly the rule on phones at the wheel prohibits

The ban is in art. 45(2) point 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym). The driver of a vehicle is prohibited from using, while driving, a phone that requires holding the handset or microphone in the hand. Two elements are key: "while driving" and "in the hand".

The rule does not talk about a conversation. It talks about using a phone that you hold in your hand. The Act names no brand or type of device: what matters is whether the handset or microphone has to be held in the hand. The rule says nothing directly about other things done with a phone in the hand (messages, maps, music); how to classify them is for the police officer to assess, and in a dispute for the court.

The ban applies to the driver of any vehicle. Not only a car, but also a bicycle and an e-scooter. The catalogue asks about the latter directly; we come back to it below.

How much the fine for a phone while driving is and how many points you get

The fines tariff (regulation of 30 December 2021, item 67) provides for a fine of 500 zł (PLN). The regulation on the register of drivers who breach the rules, in force from 3 June 2026, assigns 12 penalty points to this offence (code H 09). As of September 2026.

The second item is a separate offence. If, with a phone in your hand, you drift out of your lane, force your way through, or create a situation in which someone had to brake sharply, the police officer classifies it as causing a danger. Then 1000 zł is added to the fine for the phone.

Points are cleared one year after the fine is paid, and the data on the offence is kept for 5 years. You can check your balance in mObywatel (the government app, with a trusted profile) or at a police station, verbally and free of charge. A full description of the limits and clearing of points is in our article on penalty points and losing your licence.

What is allowed: hands-free kit, holder, earphones

The Act does not prohibit a hands-free kit, a phone holder or earphones as such. The ban relates to a phone that requires holding the handset or microphone in the hand. So if the phone sits in a holder and you talk through the car's hands-free system or a wireless earpiece, you are holding nothing in your hand and you are not breaking art. 45(2) point 1.

The line runs through the hand, not the technology. A phone in a holder that you only glance at for the map does not require holding in the hand. The same phone taken out of the holder is already a device held in the hand.

The ban concerns driving. How to treat a phone in the hand while stopped in a traffic jam or at a red light is something we do not settle here. The safest approach is to put the phone down before you move off and not pick it up until you have parked.

The trap in the question catalogue: speaker mode in the hand

The catalogue of exam questions has question 6390 on talking on a hand-held phone on exactly this topic. It asks whether you break the rules if, while driving, you talk on the phone holding it in your hand. The answers:

• A: no, provided you stay in control of the vehicle;
• B: no, provided you hold the phone away from your ear with speaker mode on;
• C: yes, even when you hold the phone away from your ear with speaker mode on.

The correct answer is C. Answer B looks reasonable and many candidates choose it, because "after all, the phone is not at my ear". But the rule does not ask where the phone is in relation to your ear, only whether you are holding it in your hand. Speaker mode switched on in a phone held in the hand changes nothing.

This is a specialist question, with three answers to choose from. In the test you can lose at most 6 points out of 74, so one mistake like this eats up a good part of your margin.

Bicycle and e-scooter: the same ban

Art. 45(2) point 1 refers to the driver of a vehicle, and a bicycle and an e-scooter are vehicles. The catalogue checks this in question 13535: whether, while riding an e-scooter, you may use a phone that requires holding the handset or microphone in the hand. The answer: NO.

For a teenager who is taking the category B test but rides an e-scooter every day, this is important information. The same rule that will apply to them as a car driver in a year's time already applies to them today on the scooter.

A pedestrian with a phone on a crossing

The ban has another side too. Art. 14 point 8 of the Road Traffic Act prohibits a pedestrian from using a phone in a way that limits their observation of the situation on the road while stepping onto and crossing the carriageway. For this offence the fines tariff provides for a fine for the pedestrian (the item under art. 97 of the Code of Petty Offences).

For the driver this has practical significance. A pedestrian staring at a screen steps onto the crossing without looking at the road, and you still have a duty to reduce speed and give way to them. Who gives way to whom at a crossing and what a mistake costs is described in our article on pedestrian priority at crossings.

Young driver: 12 points out of 20 and the probation period

In the first year after the first driving licence is issued, the points limit is 20, not 24. One fine for a phone is 12 points, that is more than half of that limit. Add a fine for exceeding the speed limit by 21-25 km/h (5 points) and you have 17 points. Another excess of 16-20 km/h (3 points) makes exactly 20 and puts you on the edge of the limit. The scale of speeding fines is in our article on speed limits and fines.

From 4 September 2026 a driver with a first category B licence is covered by the probation period. Exceeding 12 points in that period means a compulsory practical course at a driving skills centre (ośrodek doskonalenia techniki jazdy). A fine for a phone is exactly 12 points, so on its own it does not exceed that threshold. But it takes just one more point, even for speeding by up to 10 km/h, for the threshold to be exceeded.

How to handle navigation and your phone within the rules

This is practical advice, not a rule. It follows from one sentence of the Act: do not hold the phone in your hand while driving.

1. Fit a holder in a place that does not block your view, and put the phone in it before you move off.
2. Set the route in the navigation app before the journey, while parked. Changing the destination while driving means taking the phone in your hand or taking your attention off the road.
3. For calls, use the car's hands-free system or a wireless earpiece. Set up call answering so that it does not require touching the phone.
4. Mute notifications for the journey. A message you do not see does not tempt you.
5. If you need to write or check something, stop where parking is allowed and only then reach for the phone.

The simplest test: if the phone is in your hand while driving, you are on the wrong side of the rule. Everything you do without touching it is within the law.