Driving in Germany is an extremely popular pastime. Scenic routes and excellently maintained roads make driving one of the best ways to see the country. Germans do many things well — engineering, housing, clothing, furniture — but roads are a particular strength. German road surfaces look as if they were just laid yesterday, cared for with the meticulousness and thoroughness the nation is known for. Driving on them is a pleasure. For many Germans, a car represents independence and freedom of movement, and most German households own two or more vehicles.
This driving culture has been shaped not only by national temperament (Germans, too, enjoy a bit of speed) but also by a traditional carrot-and-stick system in which steep fines play the leading role. Fines, however, are not the only tool: Germany also runs a demerit-point system. Every German driver's record is kept in the Central Traffic Register (Verkehrszentralregisterauszug, VZR), based in the city of Flensburg, where points are logged electronically. The more serious the violation, the more points a driver accumulates — and the more often they offend, the sooner they lose their licence. Points expire after 2.5 years for a 1-point violation with no further offenses, after 5 years for a 2-point violation, and so on. So if you committed a violation on, say, December 30, 2017 — speeding by 22 km/h in a built-up area, or using a mobile phone while driving — and committed no further offenses, those points would be cleared by December 31, 2018.
Germany's traffic rules are set out in the Road Traffic Regulations (Straßenverkehrsordnung, StVO), a dedicated statute, while all fines for traffic violations are listed in the official fine catalog (Bußgeldkatalog). Depending on the severity of the violation, a driver may receive 1, 2, or 3 points. Once a driver reaches 4 or 5 points, they receive a warning letter. At 6 or 7 points, they must attend a seminar for repeat offenders, combining educational and psychological components. At 8 points, the driver's licence is revoked.
Losing your driving licence in Germany can happen very quickly and for a single incident — for example, fleeing the scene of an accident, or, the most common cause among our compatriots, drinking heavily and then getting behind the wheel. Drunk drivers are frequently responsible for the most severe, fatal accidents.
The specific length of a driving ban, and of the wait before a new licence can be issued, depends on the severity of the offense. Once the ban period expires, it is not automatically lifted — a formal application must be submitted to the Straßenverkehrsbehörde (the road traffic authority). Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of this, which can sometimes lead to entirely unforeseen consequences. We share one such case in this article.
The Client's Story: A Search During a Document Check on the Way to Berlin
A Russian national — let's call him Dmitry, who at the time lived permanently with his family in Kaliningrad — once came to our firm. He had been stopped by a German police officer during a document check while driving a truck from Cottbus to Berlin on a work assignment. Our future client was accused of:
- an offense under § 21 of the Road Traffic Act (Straßenverkehrsgesetz, StVG) — driving a vehicle without a valid licence, punishable by a substantial fine or imprisonment of up to one year;
- forging documents, specifically his driving licence, punishable under § 267 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB) by a fine or imprisonment of up to five years.
On top of everything, Dmitry, forced to immediately inform his employer that he could not complete the delivery, received notice of his dismissal from a well-paid job the very next day. As the American publisher B. C. Forbes wisely observed, "If you don't run your business, your business will run you." When the young man, in a desperate state and feeling he had lost everything, came to us, he could not clearly explain what the charges could possibly relate to. All he could tell us was the following story.
A Past Life in Germany, and Love in Kaliningrad
A few years earlier, Dmitry had lived in Germany on a temporary residence permit. During his three years abroad, things had gone so-so: he worked as a pizza delivery driver, a household helper, and a warehouse worker, before finally landing a job with a small moving company. There, our future client, having quickly obtained a German driving licence, transported furniture in a small truck. Like many young men, he got into a few minor scrapes along the way — once even caught driving while tipsy, which cost him his licence and earned him a six-month driving ban. But all of that seemed to belong to a distant past...
One day, visiting his elderly parents in Kaliningrad, Dmitry met his future wife, Irina (name changed), through mutual friends. As the renowned composer Igor Stravinsky once said, "there is no force in the world more powerful than love." The young couple quickly decided to be together and to live in Irina's apartment in Kaliningrad. Dmitry returned to Germany for three months, resigned from his job, gave up his rented apartment, paid off his debts, and closed out his contracts. With nothing left holding him in Germany, he flew, as it were, on the wings of love, back to his hometown, where his future wife was waiting. With help from his new in-laws, he quickly found work at a logistics company as a long-haul truck driver, and it seemed nothing could stand in the way of the young family's happiness — until, on one routine delivery run, everything fell apart.
The Attorney's Work: A Forgotten Ban That Was Never Formally Lifted
A professional attorney must remain calm in any situation and act decisively, without unnecessary fuss. To understand the situation, we requested the case file from the prosecutor's office. It turned out that the root of all our client's troubles was the driving ban imposed on him in Germany roughly two years earlier. The one-year ban period had long since expired, and Dmitry had all but forgotten about that "past life" incident. It turned out that this, too, isn't as simple in Germany as one might think: the young man had never applied to the relevant road traffic authority to have the ban formally lifted, so it technically remained in effect. Formally, then, by driving in Germany without a valid licence, Dmitry had committed an offense punishable by a fine, imprisonment, and a driving ban. On the other hand, to our client's partial relief, the allegation that his Kaliningrad-issued driving licence was forged turned out to be unfounded, and that second charge was dropped automatically.
To protect our client's interests, we prepared a detailed, reasoned application to the prosecutor's office. We argued that although Dmitry had technically committed the offense, he had done so without intent. The act had caused no serious harm and would never be repeated. Dmitry's job required him to constantly travel by truck across Europe, so losing his driving licence would be a severe blow to his newly established family's livelihood.
Outcome: Case Closed, Ban Lifted
In the end, we asked that the case be discontinued for triviality under Section 153 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung, StPO), and that the outstanding driving ban be lifted. To our shared relief, the authority agreed, and we soon received the good news that the case had been closed and the earlier ban lifted. Dmitry was able to return to his young wife with peace of mind and start looking for work again.
Conclusion
To close this instructive story with a happy ending, allow us a small joke about how the German bureaucratic machine works: "It's 1944, and an old, barnacle-covered German U-boat from 1914 surfaces in the port of Odessa. The hatch opens, and the commander, in a uniform from the turn of the century, hopefully asks some boys sitting on the pier: 'Ist der Krieg endlich beendet?' ('Has the war finally ended?') 'Nein!' the boys shout. 'Verfluchter Wilhelm' ('Cursed Wilhelm'), the commander mutters in frustration, and the submarine submerges once more to continue carrying out its Kaiser's orders."
The workings of the German state apparatus are not always intuitive to newcomers. We recommend that everyone familiarize themselves in advance with the laws and rules of the country they live in — especially in Germany — and try to avoid situations like the one our unfortunate client found himself in. We wish you every success, and if something does go wrong, we're always glad to offer professional advice, support, and the best possible solution.
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