Do not underestimate the risks of driving an e-scooter after a night out
German police has absolutely no sense of humour when it comes to e-scooters. Looking at your phone while driving, taking another person with you on the scooter and especially driving while intoxicated has serious consenquences.
If you are heavily drunk, i.e. have an alcohol blood level of 1.1 per mille (0.11%) or above, the drivers license is gone and you are facing criminal charges which will result in a fine, usually anywhere between one to three months salaries.
Now, you may say: “I am British and only here in Germany on vacation, who cares?”
Well, the criminal charges follow you home in the sense that German authoritites will try to enforce those in the UK. And even if they are unsecessful, this means that you may get arrested on your next trip to Germany and forced to pay the fine.
The driving ban which the German court will issue does not only apply in Germany but throughout the entire European Union. You will be legally barred from driving within every EU country because of EU mutual recognition laws. This means that your days of driving or renting a car in the EU are over, un less you actively apply for a re-issuing of the drivers license which usually requires a medical assessment test.
The only “good news” is that post Brexit, the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not automatically revoke a UK licence simply because it was revoked in an EU country. However, Germany will notify the DVLA about the licence revocation and/or driving ban. The DVLA will then record these foreign endorsements on your UK driving record and they may commence proceedings of their own if the offence is serious.
Therefore, when in Germany, do NOT use an e-scooter after a football match or a night out. I can be extremely costly.
The German law firm Graf & Partners was established in 2003 and specialises in British-German legal matters, international law and cross border civil litigation ever since. Contact German solicitor Bernhard Schmeilzl, LL.M. (Leicester) at +49 941 463 7070.
Picture licensed via Magnific.com
