BERLIN – Updates to Germany’s traffic violation system could see 10% more drivers lose their licenses, according to the terms presented by the country’s transportation minister Peter Ramsauer on Wednesday.
In the land of the Autobahn, drivers can currently collect up to 18 points in certain cases for breaking the law on the road. But Ramsauer’s changes to the country’s nationally-enforced point system - which indicates how quickly a driver can lose their license over a traffic violation - mean that 8 points could already pull a driver from behind the wheel.
“We want to make the system simpler, fairer and more transparent,” The Local reported Ramsauer as saying at a press conference in Berlin. He said he estimates an additional 500 drivers could lose their licenses upon enforcement of the new system.
Representatives of the country’s police union reacted skeptically, calling Ramsauer’s plan “political shadowoxing”, The Local reported.
Under the new system, no amnesty is planned for existing points, which Ramsauer said would be immediately converted to the new system.
Photo: Flickr/audiocomplex
