Mittwoch, 01.09.2010
Consecutive driving time violations
from
Dr. jur. Ingo E. FrommLawyer
Specialist in criminal law
Specialist in traffic law
Give me a call: 0261 - 404 99 25
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Violations of regulations on driving times, driving breaks and/or rest periods are booming in German district courts. Every day, truck drivers are fined exorbitantly for administrative offenses under Regulation (EC) 561/2006 in conjunction with the German Driving Personnel Act. Fines of well over EUR 2,000 against professional truck drivers are not uncommon. Often the defense attorney is able to reduce the fine because of the – poor – economic circumstances of the person concerned.
With the decision of February 17, 2010, the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz, Az.: 2 SsBs 82/09, has now given the parties concerned a strong argument for a further reduction of the fine. It is therefore essential for freight forwarders and personnel to be aware of this decision:
As is well known, the driving time in two consecutive weeks (double week) is limited to a maximum of 90 hours. What happens if the driver has exceeded the permissible daily driving time in the two-week period, which also resulted in the double-weekly driving times being exceeded? Although he has violated the law twice as a result, do the multiple violations of the law lead to the imposition of only one fine (in legal terms, this is referred to as a single offense according to § 19 of the German Act against Regulatory Offenses) or are several separate fines incurred to the detriment of the person concerned (multiple offenses, Section 20 OWiG)? The Higher Regional Court of Koblenz ruled that the daily driving times in question are components of the double weekly driving time. In this respect, there is a single offense in each case, whereby the individual violations of the daily driving time are compounded by the violation of the double weekly driving time. The permissible maximum daily driving times in the two-weekThe permissible maximum daily driving times in the two-week period are thus not only exceeded if the double-week driving time is exceeded or coincidentally overlap with it, but as a material contribution to the double-week driving time being exceeded.
In the case of fines for violating the law on driving personnel, it is important to check very carefully whether multiple fines have been imposed for exceeding the double weekly driving time. In view of the fact that the decision of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz dated February 17, 2010 has not yet been widely publicized outside the Higher Regional Court district, various "false penalty notices" are still in circulation, so that an appeal should be lodged against these, to point out the factual assessment before the district court, with the result that, for this reason alone, even in the case of proven violations of driving personnel law, a significant reduction in the fine must be made.
The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.