Probation period for new drivers from September 2026: rules and bans

The probation period covers everyone who obtains a category B driving licence for the first time. It lasts 2 years, or 3 years for 17-year-olds, and at most until your 20th birthday. The new rules apply from 4 September 2026. You drive with 0.0 per mille of alcohol, and over 12 penalty points means ODTJ training.

Since when do the new probation period rules apply?

The rules of the probation period were changed by the Act of 17 October 2025 amending the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym) and certain other acts (Journal of Laws, Dz.U. 2025 item 1676). The main part of this amendment entered into force on 3 March 2026. The chapter on the probation period applies later, 6 months after that date, which means from 4 September 2026.

The basis is art. 91-95 of the Act on Vehicle Drivers (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami) in its new wording. Below we describe only the rules in that version. If you want to check the wording of a provision, go to the text of the Act in the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw), not to summaries.

Who does the probation period cover?

The probation period covers a person who obtains a category B driving licence for the first time (art. 91(1)). Age does not matter. What counts is that you are holding category B for the first time.

The Act also names two situations in which the probation period applies again (art. 91(3)):

• after category B entitlements are revoked during the probation period, or revoked for exceeding 24 points again or for driving despite a suspended licence (art. 103(1)(2) or (5)), when you obtain the entitlements again,
• after exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Polish one, when less than 2 years have passed since the foreign document was issued.

The probation period does not apply to categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1 or T. If you have held category A for years and are only now taking the test for B, the probation period will cover you like anyone obtaining B for the first time.

How long does it last: 2 years or 3 years?

Example: you pass the practical test on 10 September 2026, and the e-licence appears in mObywatel (the government's digital ID app) after the test. You count the probation period from 10 September 2026, not from the day you collect the plastic document (art. 91(2)). The details of the temporary document are described in the text on collecting your driving licence and the e-licence valid for 30 days.

If you pass as a 17-year-old, the probation period ends at the latest on your 20th birthday. On top of that there are separate rules for minors: driving only in Poland until your 18th birthday and 6 months with a supervising passenger. We have gathered them in the article on a category B licence from the age of 17.

Which bans apply during the probation period?

The most important ban concerns alcohol. During the probation period you drive only with 0.0 per mille of alcohol in your blood and 0.0 mg per 1 dm3 of exhaled air (art. 91(4)). The same provision requires 0.0 ng/ml of any substance acting similarly to alcohol. The general threshold of 0.2 per mille, which the official catalogue asks about in question 8417, does not apply during the probation period.

A driver under 18 has additional restrictions when driving a motor vehicle other than a quadricycle (art. 91(5)):

• they do not carry people under 18, unless a passenger meeting the conditions of art. 8a(2) is in the car (aged 25 or over, holding category B continuously for at least 5 years, no driving ban in the last 5 years, sober),
• they do not carry out road haulage of goods,
• they do not work as a taxi driver or in occasional passenger transport.

After your 18th birthday these three restrictions disappear. The alcohol ban stays until the end of the probation period. For breaking any of these bans the police seize your driving licence (art. 135(1)(1)(f) of the Road Traffic Act), and the starosta (head of the county office that issues licences) revokes your entitlements (art. 103(1)(3)(b) of the Act on Vehicle Drivers).

Are there separate speed limits and a green leaf sticker?

No. The Act as applied from September 2026 contains no separate speed limits for young drivers and no obligation to mark the car with a green leaf. You are bound by the general limits, the same as every other driver.

Where does the discrepancy with what you read online come from? The earlier wording of the probation period rules, and some media, including Gazeta Prawna in its text on the changes from 4 September 2026, describe limits of 50 km/h in a built-up area, 80 km/h outside one and 100 km/h on a motorway and a dual-carriageway expressway. The text of the Act published in Dz.U. 2025 item 1676 contains no such limits. The same goes for the green leaf: you may stick one on, but the provision in its new wording does not require it.

What does this mean in practice? You drive according to the general limits and the signs. Speeding costs you the same as any other driver, but penalty points during the probation period have harsher consequences, as explained below.

What happens over penalty points and offences during the probation period?

The training at an ODTJ after exceeding 12 points is 1 hour of practical exercises on hazards in road traffic. The fee is at most 500 zł (PLN) (as of September 2026, art. 94). You have 12 months from the day of the breach to complete it. Information about exceeding 12 points also goes to mObywatel (art. 91(9)).

The catalogue of offences that count towards extending the probation period is in art. 92(5). It includes, among others, art. 86, 86b, 87, 92a § 2, 92b, 97a and 98 of the Code of Petty Offences (Kodeks wykroczeń), plus art. 90, 92 and 97 of that code when the breach consists of failing to give way or concerns priority signals and signs. Art. 86 of the Code of Petty Offences is creating a danger to road safety.

The extension of the probation period by 2 years is ordered by the starosta. On top of that they refer you for a psychological examination and a re-education course (art. 98a(2)(2) and (3)(2)). A third offence from the catalogue, or a crime against safety in traffic, ends with the loss of your entitlements. After you obtain them again, the probation period starts afresh (art. 91(3)).

The general penalty points system works separately: a limit of 24 points for drivers with more than a year's experience, and 20 points in the first year after the first licence is issued. How points are counted, when they expire and how much the points-reduction course costs are described in the article on penalty points and losing your driving licence.

How to check your status and points?

1. Open mObywatel and go to mPrawo jazdy. You will see a preview of your penalty points there. Information about exceeding 12 points will also appear there.
2. Work out the end date of your probation period: the day the document was issued (or the day you passed the test with an e-licence) plus 2 years, or plus 3 years for a 17-year-old, but no later than your 20th birthday.
3. If you had a collision or a fine from the catalogue in art. 92(5), wait for a letter from the county office (starostwo). It is the starosta who decides on extending the probation period and referring you for the examination and the course.
4. You can also check your points at a police station: verbally free of charge, a certificate costs 17 zł (as of September 2026).

How to get through the probation period without complications?

Two years is a lot of time for small mistakes, and two final convictions from the catalogue are enough for an extension. After every bump check which article of the Code of Petty Offences your fine was issued under, because that decides whether it counts towards the limit in art. 92.

Stick to three simple habits. No alcohol before driving, not even "one beer", because during the probation period any reading above 0.0 is a breach. Speed according to the signs, because points for speeding quickly add up to 12. And write down the dates: the day you passed the test and the day you collected the document, so you know when the probation period ends.