THE CHANGES ARE NOW IN FORCE

Albanian State Police presented the principal changes introduced by Law No. 58/2026, which amends the country’s Road Code, on 10 August 2026. According to the official statement, the new provisions took effect on 7 August.

The rules address unlicensed driving, repeat drink-driving, aggressive behaviour on the road, mobile-phone use, newly licensed drivers and the enforcement of licence suspensions.

PERMANENT LICENCE REVOCATION FOR REPEAT OFFENCES

A driving licence is permanently revoked when a driver records a blood-alcohol level above 0.5 grams per litre and has previously been penalised for driving under the influence of alcohol or while intoxicated, Traffic Police said.

This does not mean that every result above 0.5 g/l automatically produces permanent revocation. The official announcement ties the sanction to a repeat offence and a previous drink-driving penalty.

FINES OF UP TO 60,000 LEK FOR DANGEROUS BEHAVIOUR

The administrative penalty for dangerous road behaviour has been increased to a range of 20,000–60,000 lek. Police cited failing to adjust speed on roads with limited visibility, aggressive manoeuvres, repeated lane changes without signalling and conduct that endangers other road users, particularly in urban areas, near schools, intersections and junctions.

PHONES, BICYCLES AND ELECTRIC SCOOTERS

Mobile-phone use is now sanctioned while riding bicycles, mopeds up to 50 cc and motorised scooters.

For motor-vehicle drivers, a licence is suspended after two mobile-phone penalties within the same year. Police said the previous threshold had been three offences.

RULES FOR NEW DRIVERS

The amended Code introduces special measures relating to alcohol and speed for people who obtained their licence during the previous 24 months. The police statement does not provide the detailed limits, so ON MEDIA.AL is not adding figures absent from the cited source.

People caught driving without holding a licence will have their eligibility to obtain one postponed by up to one year. For minors, the postponement is two years.

SUSPENSION CAN NO LONGER BE AVOIDED BY PAYING DOUBLE

Another change removes the option to replace suspension of an Albanian-issued licence by paying twice the maximum fine attached to the offence. When a provision requires suspension, the licence is now suspended automatically; a higher payment no longer cancels the additional sanction.

REPORTING BASIS

ON MEDIA.AL wrote this article from scratch using the official statement by Albania’s Traffic Police director, published by Albanian State Police on 10 August 2026. It summarises only the provisions explained in that statement and does not replace the full statutory text or legal advice.