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From June 3, a child or teenager under 16 years of age will be required to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, electric bicycle, electric scooter or personal transport device. This last category includes, among others: electric skateboards, electric unicycle or Segway.

However, the provision is not limited to public roads. The obligation applies to public spaces, including bicycle paths, sidewalks, parks, residential zones, traffic zones and areas where children usually ride for recreation. Parents should not assume that a helmet will not be needed in the housing estate or just in the park.

An adult is responsible if a child does not wear a helmet. The fine may be up to PLN 100, and the child himself is not financially responsible for the offense. The new regulations are therefore addressed not only to young users of two-wheelers, but primarily to parents and guardians who are to ensure that the child does not ride without basic protection.

This is not a rule just for cyclists

Although the discussion around new regulations most often concerns bicycles, electric scooters and personal transport devices are equally important. It is on them that children and teenagers increasingly travel around housing estates, parks and bicycle paths.

Just take a walk around the city on a warm day to see how much the habits of the youngest have changed over the last dozen or so years. Bicycles used to dominate. Today, they are full of electric scooters, electric skateboards and other devices that can accelerate to a speed that can cause a very painful fall.

The biggest problem is that many people still treat such equipment more as a recreational gadget than a means of transport. Meanwhile, contact with a curb, uneven surface or sudden braking may end up as dangerous as on a bicycle, or perhaps even more dangerous. In the case of scooters, the risk is often greater due to small wheels and a less stable user position.

It is no accident that the legislator had already started to regulate the regulations regarding these devices. In March, the rules for the youngest users of electric scooters and UTOs were tightened. Children under 13 years of age cannot drive them on the road, and in residential zones they can only drive under the supervision of an adult.

The mandate will be much too low anyway

What attracts the most attention is a fine of up to PLN 100. This is an amount that can hardly be considered particularly severe. In the case of regulations regarding child safety, it can even be argued that the penalty should be much higher, because its purpose is not to fund the state budget (although that is of course too), but to effectively discourage disregard of the basic principles of health and life protection. The consequences of riding without a helmet can be much more serious than the fine itself.

Whether the child was wearing a helmet or not may be decisive when deciding on compensation in the event of an accident. If a child is injured in an incident caused by another person, the family has the right to apply for compensation from the perpetrator's liability insurance policy. The problem occurs when the head injury occurs and the child was not wearing a helmet.

In such situations, the insurer may analyze whether the lack of head protection sometimes influenced the severity of injuries. Of course, this does not mean a refusal to pay the benefit or a loss of the right to automatic compensation. However, it may become one of the arguments in a dispute about the amount of money due.

Statistics do not leave much room for counter-argumentation

The new regulations appear just before the holidays, a period when children are more likely to ride on their own, spend more time outdoors and use bicycles and scooters. The police indicate that the risk of accidents involving young two-wheeler users increases in the summer season.

According to data cited by the Police Headquarters, nearly 6,000 were recorded in 2025. incidents involving cyclists and electric scooter users. This number included nearly 1.1 thousand. accidents involving people under 17 years of age. Some of the incidents were caused by underage cyclists and electric scooter users.