Illegal street racing

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An illegal street racing (in the scene Street Racing is called) a project carried out on public roads motorcycle - or auto racing .

Illegal road races endanger other road users and the participants in these races themselves. The races are therefore generally viewed as a form of traffic hooliganism and are therefore generally prohibited by law. Participation in such a race is severely punished depending on the state.

history

The scene can be traced back to Cannonball Baker, who drove from the west to the east coast of the USA in 11 days in 1914 . One of the most famous road races ever, the Cannonball Rally , was driven on Route 66 in the 1970s and named after Route 66 . During this time, teenagers in the United States began racing their muscle cars over a quarter mile . After the oil crisis , the scene fell sharply and reappeared at the end of the 1990s with the new, almost worldwide tuning boom . The fast-and-the-furious films urged young people to drive the quarter mile on public roads again. During this time, a street racing scene developed in Europe.

Illegal street races today

The street racing scene is divided into three groups. In the USA, the quarter mile is still driven in US muscle cars or extremely high-revving vehicles from Japanese manufacturers ( drag ).

The second variant is speed running , which was established in Sweden and is quite common in Europe. The aim here is to get from A to B in the shortest possible time.

As a third variant, drift racing has developed in Asia, especially Japan , which is due, among other things, to the dense development of Japanese cities, and is the subject of the US action film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift .

Well-known events are Gumball 3000 , Cannonball races and the Bullrun Rally . The film series Getaway in Stockholm shows popular recordings of illegal journeys .

Hazard potential of road races

Remembering Miriam S., victim of an illegal street race in Cologne in April 2015

On March 31, 2001 in Cologne by the then center of Cologne the son of Mayor Fritz Schramma killed, he was in a waiting at a red light pedestrian group in which a car was thrown. At the end of 2006, a 20-year-old died in an illegal race in Bochum . Accidents with damage to persons who are not involved are rare, but mainly reported from Sweden. While in the USA people drive on remote industrial roads at night, the races in Europe take place deliberately in city centers and, preferably during the day, on highways. The last time seven people died in an accident in Maryland (USA) in February 2008 .

On April 14, 2015, a 19-year-old cyclist was so seriously injured in an illegal street race between two young men in Cologne that she died a few days later. A chamber of the Cologne Regional Court sentenced the two men (21 and 22 years old) to 21 and 24 months respectively on probation for manslaughter . The 4th Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice lifted the two defendants' probation on July 6, 2017 and referred the case back to another chamber of the Cologne Regional Court.

In the course of investigations into several traffic accidents in Cologne within a few weeks, it became known in July 2015 that those who had caused the accident had rented vehicles in order to take part in illegal road races. Some car sharing providers have been cooperating with the police since then .

On February 1, 2016, two young men caused an accident in an illegal race on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm after several red light violations , in which an uninvolved motorist died. The two men were sentenced to life imprisonment because the intent to kill was assumed. On June 16, 2017, a 28-year-old participant in a race in Mönchengladbach killed a man when he lost control of his vehicle. The grand coalition wanted to implement an initiative launched by the Federal Council by the 2017 Bundestag election , which should increase the scope of punishment in order to increase deterrence : Anyone who organizes or takes part in illegal races should be punished with up to two years' imprisonment - and up to ten years if they do someone is seriously injured or killed. The resulting Section 315d of the Criminal Code (StGB) came into force on October 13, 2017.

Legal situation in Germany

Current situation

Since October 13, 2017, unauthorized road races are prohibited motor vehicle races within the meaning of Section 315d of the Criminal Code (StGB) and can be punished with a prison sentence of up to ten years . In January 2020, the Villingen-Schwenningen District Court expressed doubts about the constitutionality of a variant of the new criminal offense (so-called single race according to Section 315d Paragraph 1 No. 3 StGB) due to a lack of certainty and the corresponding criminal proceedings up to the constitutional court decision exposed .

Motor vehicle races on public roads always require a permit in accordance with Section 29 (2) of the StVO. Those who take part in the race as a motor vehicle driver also receive two or three points in the register of fitness to drive in accordance with Appendix 13 No. 1.6 and 2.1.6 of the Driving License Ordinance (FeV) .

Situation until October 13, 2017

Road races were and are generally prohibited in Germany ( Section 29 (1) of the StVO). Anyone who organized an illegal street race before the entry into force of Section 315d StGB had to expect a fine of EUR 500.00 ( Section 49 (2) No. 6 StVO in conjunction with Appendix No. 249 to the Ordinance on Fines Catalog - BKatV) . Anyone who took part in such a race without being an organizer had to expect a fine of EUR 400.00 and a one-month driving ban ( Section 49 (2) No. 5 StVO in conjunction with Annex No. 248 BKatV) . In addition, there were two points in the register of fitness to drive ( § 40  FeV in conjunction with Annex 13 No. 2.2.9 FeV). Anyone who was involved in a road race (including the passenger or other occupants of a vehicle who support the road race) is, like the driver, a perpetrator (cf. § 14 OWiG).

If people or property of significant value were at risk during the race, it could also be punished as a criminal offense ( Section 315c of the Criminal Code). In this case, there is a risk of imprisonment of up to five years or a fine as well as two or three points in the register of fitness to drive ( Section 40 in  conjunction with Annex 13 No. 1.5 FeV). In special cases the penalty could be higher. In autumn 2016, a draft law was discussed that no longer classified illegal street races as an administrative offense, but as a general criminal offense. Anyone who takes part in illegal street races should therefore be punished with imprisonment - even if no one has been harmed.

Murder trial

In February 2017, the Berlin Regional Court sentenced both participants in an illegal street race on Kurfürstendamm, in the course of which a bystander was killed, to life imprisonment for murder . The judges saw through the speeding vehicles the murder criterion of the use of a dangerous substance as fulfilled. However, this judgment was overturned on March 1, 2018 by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) due to deficiencies in the justification of the intent. The case has been tried again since August 14, 2018 in another criminal chamber of the Berlin district court. On March 26, 2019, she convicted the defendants again of murder. On June 18, 2020, the BGH came to a new decision on the revisions of the two defendants. The BGH has now confirmed the conviction of the defendant, who actually caused the accident, for murder. He affirmed the murder characteristics of treachery and other low motives . However , the BGH overturned the conviction of the second defendant for murder in complicity and referred the matter to the Berlin Regional Court for renewed hearing.

In a Hamburg speeder case, the BGH confirmed the conviction of a speeder for murder for the first time in a decision of January 16, 2019. The convicted by the regional court had stolen a taxi and was being followed by the police. He drove through downtown Hamburg at a speed of around 160 km / h and switched to the opposite lane. There he collided with an oncoming taxi, and one of the occupants was fatally injured. The BGH saw this behavior as an intent to kill and assumed the murder feature of the intention to cover up a criminal offense. A report in the Berliner Morgenpost described the judgment as a novelty in German legal history. It says: "Anyone who kills a person as a ruthless speedster with his car can be convicted as a murderer." However, the BGH does not mark a red line for a murder conviction in speeding cases. According to the chairwoman of the BGH judge Beate Sost-Scheible , the BGH would have to disappoint such an expectation . The circumstances of the individual case are decisive.

Administrative sanctions

In addition to fines, penalties and points, there is also a threat of administrative sanctions. Since the act, as far as it remains in the case of an administrative offense (i.e. nobody is specifically endangered), can practically only be committed intentionally, the road traffic authorities are entitled to require the participant in a race to submit a medical-psychological report ( MPU ) even if if its point limit has not yet been reached. Participation in prohibited road races suggests, according to case law, that the driver of the vehicle is using both his vehicle and the road for purposes other than those for which they were intended, thereby endangering the life and limb of other road users to a considerable extent; the order to produce a medical-psychological report is then indicated. The case law is based on a statement by the Federal Council on the amendment to the Driving License Ordinance in 2004. It says:

“In the driving license regulation there is no provision according to which the driving license authority can order a medical-psychological examination if there are doubts about suitability due to violations of traffic regulations that do not constitute criminal offenses. In view of the principle of proportionality, however, it must also be possible to order a medical-psychological examination, especially in the presence of a large number of administrative offenses or participation in illegal street races that give rise to doubts about personal suitability. "

If the person concerned refuses to have the requested report drawn up and submitted, or if the report shows that it is unsuitable for driving a motor vehicle, the driver's license will be permanently withdrawn.

If the intention to carry out an illegal street race, the authorities known in advance, the vehicles of the participants can for security purposes by the state police laws ensured to be.

Civil Sanctions

Accidents in illegal street races also have serious consequences under civil law. Compensation by the other race participant who caused the damage or their liability insurance is often ruled out. Mutual liability of those involved for injuries and damage is only possible in accordance with the liability principles for damage in particularly dangerous sports in the case of grossly unsporting or irregular behavior, which the injured party must prove. If he does not succeed in this, he has to bear the damage himself.

If he succeeds in providing evidence, he often only has the option to personally claim damages from the injuring party, who may not be solvent. Because the parallel existing claim for damages against his liability insurance is tacitly waived - at least with regard to property damage. The liability insurance is then exempt from the obligation to perform.

Related topics

  • Carfreitag - a fixed day on which parts of the German tuner scene meet for races
  • Alleycat - bike races, especially by bike messengers
  • Speeders - drivers who intentionally and frequently exceed speed limits in traffic

literature

  • Anne Schneider: "The Fast and the Furious". On the criminal liability of illegal car races if bystanders are injured. In: Journal for Legal Studies . (ZJS). Vol. 6, No. 4, 2013, pp. 362–372, ( digital version (PDF; 165 kB) ).

Individual evidence

  1. Tim Stinauer: Illegal race in Cologne: " Death speeders " drove at 100 km / h over the Auenweg. In: ksta.de. February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017 .
  2. BGH lifts probation for Kölner Autoraser , FAZ.net of July 6, 2017, accessed on the same day; Judgment of the 4th Criminal Senate of July 6, 2017 - 4 StR 415/16 - (pdf), accessed on the same day.
  3. Russian roulette on German streets - passers-by die in illegal car races , Focus Online, accessed on July 20, 2015.
  4. Illegal car races with fatal consequences , Kölner Stadtanzeiger online from July 14, 2015.
  5. ^ The fatal frenzy with car sharing cars , Welt.de, accessed on July 20, 2015.
  6. Anette Dowideit, Tim Röhn: The deadly frenzy with car sharing cars , welt.de from July 19, 2015, accessed on December 28, 2015.
  7. ^ Illegal races with the rental car , Süddeutsche.de, August 27, 2015.
  8. Uta Eisenhardt: Judgment against Raser in Berlin - Two Cars as Murder Weapons , spiegel.de , accessed on February 28, 2017.
  9. Police are still looking for the driver of a silver seat , rp-online.de from June 18, 2017, accessed on July 6, 2017.
  10. Pedestrians killed in illegal car races , FAZ.net from June 17, 2017, accessed on July 6, 2017.
  11. Florian Ruhs: The so-called “single lawn” as a prohibited motor vehicle race according to § 315d StGB . In: SVR . 2018, p. 286 ff .
  12. ^ AG Villingen-Schwenningen, decision of January 16, 2020 - 6 Ds 66 Js 980/19
  13. Sueddeutsche.de: Illegal car races are said to be a criminal offense
  14. Raser sentenced to life imprisonment for murder , news from Tagesspiegel dated February 27, 2017, accessed on the same day.
  15. Katrin Bischoff: BGH judgment expected: Are the Kudamm speeders really murderers? March 1, 2018, accessed on March 26, 2019 (German).
  16. BGH, judgment of March 1, 2018, Az. 4 StR 399/17
  17. SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany: Federal Court of Justice revises judgment against Berlin speedsters - SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved March 1, 2018 .
  18. ^ Trial in Berlin: Ku'damm-Raser convicted of murder . In: Spiegel Online . March 26, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed March 26, 2019]).
  19. ↑ In the "Berlin Raser case", the Federal Court of Justice confirms the conviction of the accused who caused the accident for murder and overturns the verdict against the other accused convicted as an accomplice. 4 StR 482/19 - judgment of June 18, 2020. In: Press release No. 078/2020. Federal Court of Justice, press office, June 18, 2020, accessed on June 18, 2020 .
  20. Christian Rath: Second BGH judgment on the Ku'damm car race: A speedster can be a murderer. In: lto.de. June 18, 2020, accessed June 21, 2020 .
  21. BGH, decision of January 16, 2019, Az. 4 StR 345/18 .
  22. Berliner Morgenpost- Berlin: Murder verdict against Raser legally binding - BGH rejects appeal. March 1, 2019, accessed on March 26, 2019 (German).
  23. ^ VG Bayreuth, decision of March 9, 2010 - B 1 E 10.82 - juris; VG Gelsenkirchen, decision of May 11, 2009 - 7 L 373/09 - juris.
  24. BR-Drs. 305/04 (decision), p. 1.
  25. ^ Bay. VGH, decision of 7 December 2009 - 10 ZB 09.1354 -, juris; VG Munich, ruling v. April 22, 2009 - M 7 K 08.2827 -, juris.
  26. OLG Hamm, ruling from May 12, 1997 - 13 U 198/96 -, NZV 1997, 515; LG Duisburg, ruling v. October 22, 2004 - 7 S 129/04 -, NJW-RR 2005, 105-107, regarding an illegal moped and moped race among young people.