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As the headline suggests, this is a real case that the Frankfurt am Main District Court had to deal with. A driver failed to maintain the required minimum distance from the vehicle in front and, as the distance was less than 3/10 of the speedometer reading, administrative offence proceedings were initiated against him. Shortly before that, he had been caught with a presumably similar value at the same location, and administrative offence proceedings had also been initiated against him. These proceedings resulted in a one-month driving ban and a fine.

The HIgher Regional Coute imposed the same penalty again: a one-month driving ban and a fine. One might think this unjustified, given that he had already been given the driving ban, which had been served by the time of the second offence (OLG Frankfurt, 4 ORbs 50/24).

However, each administrative offence proceeding is intended to serve as a warning, encourage reflection and have a specific preventive effect in relation to each individual traffic offence, which clearly had not been the case here. In such a case, the driver should not be rewarded, even though he had already served the driving ban. After all, he should not have disregarded the minimum distance again.
This is also the reason why two penalties were imposed. Due to the persistent nature of the offence and the repeated dangerous tailgating, the penalties were imposed based on the severity of the offence and the circumstances. If the driver is caught again, he can expect another driving ban and, in total, a period of three months without a car.

Frankfurt am Main Local Court, judgment of 17 November 2023, file number: 971 OWi 916 Js 59363/23

 

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