On 4 June this year, the Act of 9 May 2018 amending the Road Traffic Law and certain other acts (Journal of Laws, item 957) enters into force. Its provisions concern the phased launch of individual modules of the “CEPIK 2.0” IT system, which in practice will depend on the implementation of technical solutions ensuring that these modules function.
One of the adopted solutions, strongly highlighted in the media as pro-citizen, is exempting users of vehicles registered in Poland from the obligation to carry a document confirming that the vehicle is authorised for road use and a document confirming the conclusion of a third-party liability insurance contract for the vehicle. Alongside this change, appropriate regulations were provided in the provisions concerning the inspection and retention of registration certificates, introducing “virtual” retention. However, the practical application of the new provisions requires the implementation of appropriate technical solutions enabling road traffic control authorities to transmit information about the “virtual” retention of a registration certificate and its return to the central vehicle register on an ongoing basis.
Consequently, the entry into force of the aforementioned changes has been suspended until those technical solutions are implemented. In other words, until then, the above-mentioned provisions remain in their previous wording, meaning that drivers, regardless of the country of registration, are still required to carry with them and present to authorised authorities a document confirming that the vehicle is authorised for road use and a document confirming the conclusion of a third-party liability insurance contract for the vehicle.
Until the appropriate technical solutions are implemented, the Police will also continue to maintain records of drivers violating road traffic regulations under the existing rules.
The same applies to the new provisions concerning so-called young drivers. The planned regulations concerning a two-year probationary period, special restrictions, the obligation to display a special vehicle marking and additional training on road traffic hazards will not enter into force, as expected, on 4 June this year. The entire Chapter 14 of the Act on Drivers, dedicated to the “probationary period”, will enter into force, like the provisions mentioned earlier, after the appropriate technical solutions have been implemented. The date of their implementation will be announced in an official communication from the Minister of Digital Affairs.