verdict
“Running alone” on the road remains a punishable offense
Even “running alone” in road traffic remains a punishable offence. Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In illegal car races, bystanders die again and again. Speeders have been threatened with imprisonment for several years – even if they are traveling too fast without an opponent. Karlsruhe has now checked the regulation.
Car racers who drive much too fast without racing opponents face imprisonment or fines in the future. The provision, which was added to the Criminal Code in 2017, is compatible with the Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe announced on Tuesday.
The norm is sufficiently specific. In addition, “community protection concerns” outweigh the impact on freedom of action.
The rule is part of the new Section 315d of the Criminal Code, which primarily penalizes organizing and participating in races in normal traffic. The reason for the tightening was several serious accidents in which bystanders were killed or very seriously injured.
However, anyone who “drives a motor vehicle at an inappropriate speed and grossly contrary to traffic and recklessly moves in order to achieve the highest possible speed” is also liable to prosecution. A prison sentence of up to two years or a fine is envisaged. A maximum of ten years imprisonment is possible if someone dies or suffers serious damage to their health.
The district court of Villingen-Schwenningen in Baden-Württemberg had reservations about opening the main proceedings against a man accused of being a “single raser”. It considered the provision to be too vague – and therefore unconstitutional. Because it is one of the most important principles of criminal law that standards must be formulated so clearly that everyone can clearly see whether they are doing something forbidden. The district court had therefore asked Karlsruhe to review.
However, the constitutional judges do not see any problems. The term “maximum speed” is new. But it can be interpreted. The legal materials expressly referred to the road, visibility and weather conditions.
A year ago, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the conviction of a “single raser” under Section 315d for the first time. The 20-year-old had raced through downtown Stuttgart in a rented sports car at up to 165 kilometers per hour before his car crashed into a stationary small car. The young couple inside died. The Stuttgart regional court had sentenced the man to five years of youth imprisonment for illegal car racing resulting in death. He was originally charged with murder.
The case from Villingen-Schwenningen is about a man who was on drugs and without a driver’s license in 2019. In order to avoid a traffic check, he had driven through towns and crossings at 80 to 100 kilometers per hour before the police could stop him. Nobody got hurt.
Now that Karlsruhe has decided, the district court can resume the proceedings that have been suspended in the meantime.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann welcomed the decision. Illegal car races and car chases have rightly been explicitly punished. “Anyone who subordinates the lives of others to their own fun or their flight from the police must bear the consequences,” said the FDP politician.