Road traffic authority
The road traffic authority in Germany is the administrative authority determined by state law according to § 44 Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) and responsible for monitoring and executing the road traffic regulations . The road traffic authority is not an independent organizational unit, but is part of the local municipal administration ( city administration or, in municipalities with a smaller population, the district administration ). In Hamburg , this task, a specialty, lies with the police .
tasks
The road traffic authority is responsible for arranging traffic signs and road markings (as far as they are defined by the StVO), traffic restrictions such as speed limits ( detours , barriers , one-way streets ) and traffic lights . The tasks of the road traffic authority are for example:
- Arrangement of signs on roads (traffic signs)
- Approval of workplaces on roads (construction sites)
- Concessions for taxi & rental cars (if the community has less than 7,500 inhabitants)
- Cycling events, motorsport events (classic car rides, slalom rides, time trials)
- Permits for heavy transports, large-capacity transports and dangerous goods transport
- Exemptions from the Sunday driving ban / holiday driving ban
Assignment to other offices or tasks and delimitation
The road traffic authority thus has regulatory functions and is often, for historical reasons, assigned to a municipal regulatory authority. After administrative reforms, in some places it is organizationally closely linked to the road construction authority , for example the civil engineering authority , with which it often works, but is formally clearly distinguishable from them.
In Germany, the vehicle registration office and the driving license authority , often colloquially called the driving license office, can be assigned to the office that also takes on the task of the road traffic authority, but this does not have to be the case. The approval of people for road traffic , for example the issuing or withdrawal of driving licenses, are not the tasks of the road traffic authority in the sense of the German StVO, nor are the approval of vehicles for road traffic . Likewise, the granting of the permit for the special use of the traffic site ( special use permit ) is not the original task of the road traffic authority, but is administered by the building contractor of the road.
In other countries
In Switzerland the office is called the Road Traffic Office . The office carries out the motor vehicle control and is responsible for the driving authorizations.