What is the penalty for a bus driver, excluding a municipal public transport bus with designated standing places, for carrying more than five persons in excess of the number of seats stated in the vehicle registration document?

The question is about the penalty for a bus driver, other than in municipal public transport, for carrying more than five people over the number of seats in the vehicle registration certificate. The driver faces retention of the driving licence for 3 months - answer A.

The Road Traffic Act requires a police officer to retain the driving licence of a driver who is carrying more people than the number of seats in the vehicle registration certificate, but for a bus the rule applies only when there are more than 5 extra people. Then the Vehicle Drivers Act requires the starost (head of the district authority) to issue a decision on the retention of the driving licence for a period of 3 months. The exception concerns buses in public transport, where standing places are provided. A driver qualification check (answer B) is used in other situations, and a fine on its own (answer C) does not reflect the main consequence of this offence.

Legal basis: Art. 135 para. 1 point 2 letter b and para. 2 point 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym); Art. 102 para. 1 point 5, para. 1a and 1c of the Vehicle Drivers Act (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami)