Germany yet to vote on traffic penalties

[unhappycamper]

Germany yet to vote on traffic penalties
By Marcus Klöckner and Steve Mraz , Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Despite some reports of German traffic fines going up in early 2009, the increase is not yet official, authorities said.

A plan to charge motorists more for violating traffic laws is just that — a plan still under consideration.

"There is no legal foundation for the new fines that are likely to come out in 2009 yet," said Christiane Lautenschläger, a spokeswoman for the German police in Kaiserslautern.

German government officials will vote later this month on increasing the maximum that motorists can be charged for breaking traffic laws. The German parliament passed the measure on Nov. 13; Germany’s federal council is scheduled to vote on the issue Dec. 13. If the council passes the law, the increased traffic fines will take effect Feb. 1.

"We are confident that the law will also pass in the federal council," said Sven Ulbrich, spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59044