New catalog of fines
From Tuesday: Higher fines for speeders and parking offenders
The renewed catalog of fines provides for harsher penalties for violations of the rules in road traffic. Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
From Tuesday, traffic offenders such as speeders and parking offenders will have to pay more if they are caught. After a long political dispute, the new catalog of fines comes into force. The aim is to increase road safety. Cyclists and pedestrians should be better protected.
From Tuesday, traffic offenders such as speeders and parking offenders will have to pay more if they are caught. After a long political dispute, the new catalog of fines comes into force. The aim is to increase road safety. Cyclists and pedestrians should be better protected.
According to a survey by the polling institute Yougov, however, only 30 percent of citizens believe that the higher fines for speeders and parking offenders will make road traffic safer – 63 percent do not believe this.
Higher fines and new rules
The renewed catalog of fines provides for harsher penalties for violations of the rules in road traffic. For example, if you drive 16 to 20 kilometers per hour (km / h) too fast in urban areas in the future and are flashed, you will soon pay 70 euros instead of 35. In future, there will also be higher fines for those who park illegally on sidewalks and cycle paths, stop unauthorized on protective lanes or park and stop in the second row.
Another new feature is a fine of 55 euros for unauthorized parking in a parking lot for electrically powered vehicles and car sharing vehicles. On the other hand, driving ban rules and the regulations on points in Flensburg remain unchanged when driving too fast.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the unauthorized use of a rescue alley is now prosecuted and punished in the same way as the failure to create a rescue alley. There is a risk of fines between 200 and 320 euros and a month’s driving ban. Truck drivers who violate the obligation to only drive the truck at walking pace when turning right in town will be asked to pay 70 euros and one point will be awarded.
Lengthy negotiations
The new catalog of fines was preceded by long negotiations between the federal and state governments. Due to a formal error, stricter rules on fines in the new road traffic regulations were suspended last year. As a result, a political dispute arose, especially about the actually planned tougher driving ban rules when driving too fast – but these are not coming. Instead, the federal and state governments agreed to increase fines. The Federal Council unanimously approved the tightening in October.
The President of the German Traffic Guard, Kurt Bodewig, had said: “So far, the sentence was simply too mild in many cases and the adjustments to the catalog of fines were therefore overdue.” The controls of the police would have to be strengthened. The ADAC also called for controls at dangerous spots and thus also the risk of being discovered, to be increased.