dpa Verkehrsgerichtstag
29.01. 2010
S training before the idiot test
The controversial 'idiot test' for alcohol and serial offenders in traffic remains in place. However, the medical-psychological examination (MPU) is to be reformed and regularly checked after the presentation of the 48th German Traffic Court Conference. At the end of the congress, the experts recommended on Friday (January 29th) in Goslar to prepare those affected in a training course for the MPU. The previous regulation provides for retraining only after the examination has failed. Every year around 100,000 people in Germany have to take the 'idiot test'.
For two days, around 1,800 experts from the judiciary, science, politics, and automobile and insurance associations discussed current issues relating to road traffic and traffic law. They recommended a weakened form of owner liability, the strengthening of passenger rights in the event of delays and other measures to reduce the risk of accidents for young drivers.
Young drivers should be given incentives to buy safety technology
Young drivers should receive financial incentives to buy cars with modern safety technology. After all, this group is often traveling with vehicles that have significant safety deficiencies. With the help of supporting systems such as electronic stability control or automatic distance maintenance, the number of accidents with fatalities and injuries among 18 to 24-year-old drivers can be significantly reduced. In 2008 alone, almost 900 drivers of this age group were killed in Germany. The traffic experts expressly praised the accompanied driving for beginners. This has proven itself and should be anchored in law.
Holders should in any case pay for traffic offenses
According to the experts, keepers will soon have to be asked to pay for cash, if you have not been behind the wheel of your car in the event of a violation. In view of the large number of unresolved traffic sins, the owners should be charged at least part of the costs for unsuccessful investigations if they do not name the driver. Authorities should increasingly impose the keeping of logbooks on these owners. A basic owner liability is not possible for constitutional reasons.
Arbitration board for public transportdemanded
The traffic experts had good news for travelers in land and air transport. The Verkehrsgerichtstag recommended that the legislature set up an arbitration board for public passenger transport to resolve disputes between passengers and transport companies. In addition, the objectively unjustified differences, particularly in the case of the lump-sum compensation for delays, could be eliminated.
Clear the forest of signs
At the beginning of the traffic court day, its President Kay Nehm demanded that the forest of signs on Germany's roads be cleared quickly and drastically. The more than 20 million signs overwhelmed motorists and threatened to degenerate into a traffic obstruction, said the former Federal Prosecutor General.
Car toll will come
Nehm also showed himself convinced that there is 'no way around a car toll in the long term'. Germany is a transit country with roads full of foreign vehicles. It is unacceptable that German drivers have to pay in Austria and France, for example, while drivers from these countries can travel for free in Germany. At the same time as the toll, the vehicle tax should then fall.
ABS for motorcycles, assistance systems for cars
In the fight against the high number of road deaths in the EU demanded the 48th traffic court day to prescribe new security systems. The experts suggested ABS for motorcycles, as well as emergency braking systems and systems that warn drivers if they are out of lane. Belt tensioning systems should also become mandatory for all seats. The experts suggested the voluntary installation of speed warning systems and so-called alkolock mechanisms, which prevent vehicles from being started by drunk drivers. The sale of radar warning devices is to be banned.
