Americans learn of locked-car law the hard way

[unhappycamper]

Americans learn of locked-car law the hard way
By Marcus Kloeckner and Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, September 23, 2008

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Add this to the never-ending list of German laws you didn’t know about: It’s illegal to leave your car unlocked when you’re not in it.

Prompted by a trend this year of items being stolen from unlocked cars, German and American police checked more than 400 cars Thursday night in Ramstein-Miesenbach, according to the German newspaper Die Rheinpfalz. Ramstein-Miesenbach is the German village located just outside Ramstein Air Base’s west gate and is home to legions of Americans.

The authorities found 60 cars were unlocked, and almost all the unlocked cars belonged to Americans, according to the newspaper.

Police found credit cards, wallets, digital music players and a military uniform, according to the report. A photograph in the paper showed police retrieving a U.S. military helmet from a car trunk.

The police confiscated anything they found in the cars, but left a note behind for the owners to pick up their belongings at the police station. The legal foundation for the police’s proceeding is a police law that allows police forces to confiscate property in order to prevent its loss, according to the German newspaper.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57586

[Solly Mack]

1. Actually, during the mandatory orientation, you're told it's illegal

to leave your car unlocked


Sure, people forget and the orientation takes place while you're still very new to the country...still...this info isn't hidden from anyone.