No emergency lane in urban areas: Is the fine legal?
There is a traffic jam on an upgraded main road within a village. At times, the police can't get through because a truck driver doesn't leave an emergency lane. Why this is not an offense in itself.
There is no obligation to form a rescue lane on inner-city roads that are similar to freeways. This is clarified by a decision (Ref.: 201 ObOWi 971/23) of the Bavarian Supreme Court (BAYOBLG), to which the ADAC refers.
In the case, a man was driving his truck on a federal highway within a built-up area. The road was similar to a highway and had two separate lanes in each direction. Due to an accident further ahead, the traffic slowed down. No emergency lane was formed, which is why a police car coming from behind was unable to continue its journey for a while.
Local court sentences the driver
The driver was subsequently sentenced to a fine of 240 euros by the Augsburg district court. He was also banned from driving and given one point in Flensburg. The local court ruled accordingly, as it considered the failure to form a rescue lane to be an offense due to the motorway-like nature of the road.
The person concerned appealed against this. He was of the opinion that this offense could not be fulfilled in urban areas. The BAYOBLG ruled in his favor on this point. The obligation to form a rescue lane does not apply to inner-city traffic on a federal highway. This is how the court argued with reference to the Road Traffic Regulations (STVO, Section 11 Paragraph 2). The highway-like expansion of the federal highway does not change this. The fine was therefore unlawful.
The STVO only mentions an obligation to form a rescue lane in the relevant paragraph for freeways and "roads outside built-up areas with at least two lanes for one direction". In urban areas and on single-lane roads, space is usually created for emergency vehicles by driving to the right-hand side, according to the BAYOBLG in its decision.
Obstruction must be renegotiated
The decision only concerned the question of whether the formation of a rescue lane is mandatory on the road section. This was clearly denied with reference to the STVO.
However, according to the ADAC, it was pointed out in the decision that other administrative offenses could be considered due to the obstruction of the police car. The case was therefore referred back to the local court for a new hearing and decision.
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The Bavarian Supreme Court ruled that a driver who failed to form a rescue lane on a motorway-like federal highway within a built-up area was not guilty, as the obligation to do so does not apply to inner-city traffic based on the Road Traffic Regulations (STVO). The local court had initially fined the driver and issued a driving ban due to the obstruction of a police car, but the BAYOBLG overturned the decision due to the lack of such an obligation in urban areas. An advisor from the ADAC mentioned that other administrative offenses could be considered due to the obstruction.
Source: www.ntv.de
