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When can you drive faster than allowed? What does the cell phone ban at the wheel include? And is it a good idea to take the e-scooter instead of the car after a night of drinking?
Matters relating to motorists are particularly often dealt with by the courts. Some judgments are not only worth knowing for those involved. Five examples.
The forwarded nodule
Fines, penal orders and enforcement order must be properly served to be effective. In case of doubt, however, the boundaries are relatively broad, as a traffic offender who had already moved out at home noticed, whose mother forwarded her a wrongly served fine notice via cell phone photo. The judges did not accept the daughter's objection for improper service.
Although there was a lack of delivery, this was remedied by the transmission of the photo. Because the person concerned actually became aware of the allegations. The judges particularly emphasized the difference to a telephone communication. If the mother had merely called her daughter, misunderstandings or incomplete information could have been possible. In the case of a photo, however, omissions or text changes that distort the meaning are technically not possible. (Ref.: 2 Ss (OWi) 348/20)
Bloody breach of the rules
Drivers may only disregard traffic rules in extreme emergencies. A bleeding finger is not one of them. It does not justify breaking traffic rules and speed limits when driving to the hospital, as long as there is no danger to life and limb, as the Frankfurt District Court ruled. In the case under discussion, a woman had suffered a severely bleeding wound on her finger while doing household chores. When her husband drove her to the hospital, he was flashed at 30 km/h in a 80 km/h zone. However, he unsuccessfully defended himself against the fine of 235 euros and the one-month driving ban. (Ref.: 971 Owi 955 Js-OWi 65423/19)
Broad cell phone ban
The so-called mobile phone ban at the wheel covers more than the use of smartphones and is interpreted strictly by most courts. Even the touchscreen permanently installed in the vehicle can fall under the regulation, as a Tesla driver had to recognize before the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court. The man had strayed from the road while looking for the wipe function in the infotainment submenu of his vehicle and had caused an accident. (Az. 1 Rb 36 Ss 832/19)
E-scooter no drunken alternative to the car
Anyone who has drunk alcohol should no longer drive a car. However, switching to an electric scooter is not a solution. Because the same alcohol limits apply to its users as to drivers. Anyone driving an electric scooter with more than 1,1 per mille is absolutely unfit to drive, as the Bavarian Higher Regional Court has ruled. Driving with such an alcohol level is therefore a criminal offense and will be punished with a fine and a driver's license suspension. A visitor to the Oktoberfest was accused of using an e-scooter for the last few meters of the way home and getting into a police check with a blood alcohol content of 1,35. (Ref.: 205 StRR 216/20)
Long wrong is also not right
There is no such thing as “customary law” when it comes to illegal parking. Even if a car has been parked for days, it can still be towed away. The costs for the private towing of an illegally parked vehicle are to be paid by the vehicle owner, regardless of the timing of the towing process, as the Rüsselsheim district court ruled (3 C 1039/20 (41)). In this case, a property owner had had a car towed privately. The illegally parked woman refused to pay the towing costs because her vehicle had been parked there for 11 days and the removal was not “immediate” as required by law.