Poland's Sejm passes law suspending driving licenses for railway crossing violations

The Polish Sejm has passed an amendment to tighten penalties for dangerous behavior at railway crossings. Under the new law, prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure, drivers will face a mandatory three-month suspension of their driving licenses for several specific violations.

Drivers will lose their licenses for bypassing lowered barriers, entering a crossing while barriers are descending or before they have fully risen, ignoring red signals, or entering a crossing when there is no space to continue driving on the other side. Currently, these offenses result in fines of 2,000 PLN (increasing to 4,000 PLN for repeat offenders) and 15 penalty points.

The legislation also includes changes to the Penal Code. Courts will be required to impose a driving ban of at least three years for causing a transport disaster, and at least one year for creating a direct danger of such a disaster.

Following the Sejm's approval, the amendment moves to the Senate and then to the President. If signed, the new regulations will take effect 14 days after official announcement. The Ministry of Infrastructure also plans to expand automatic surveillance systems and grant the Railway Protection Guard authority to issue fines.