Judgment in traffic law: Advanced training after the end of the probationary period

In the case of a novice driver who committed two serious violations of road traffic regulations during her probationary period, the Koblenz Administrative Court confirmed that the competent driving license authority had ordered an advanced training seminar for the period after the probationary period had expired.

The background: speeding during the probationary period

The plaintiff was found to have committed two serious road traffic offenses during her probationary period. In April 2018, the novice driver drove 24 km/h faster than the speed limit outside a built-up area. In the second case, in November 2018, she exceeded the speed limit by 49 km/h. The respective traffic violations resulted in fines and points in the driving aptitude register for the plaintiff.

The competent driving license authority then ordered (at the beginning of 2020) that she attend an advanced training seminar. As the order was issued after the plaintiff's probationary period had expired in the fall of 2019, she initiated an objection procedure, which was not upheld by the authority. Based on the assumption that the purpose of an advanced training seminar is to correct deficits in inexperienced drivers and that this is only effective if the measure takes place promptly, she filed a complaint with the competent administrative court in Koblenz. The plaintiff further argued that there had been no further infringements of traffic regulations up to the end of her probationary period.

Lawsuit dismissed: Order of the advanced training seminar lawful

However, the case was dismissed. According to the court's decision, the law expressly permits an order to attend an advanced training seminar even after the probationary period has expired. This also applies in cases where a longer period of time has passed since the last offense against traffic regulations without any complaints.

The court went on to state that the purpose of the advanced training course, to encourage novice drivers to behave properly on the road, and principles of proportionality require a maximum time limit for the period of the offense and the order by the authorities. In the specific facts of the case, however, it is not decisive whether a general period of two years or the maturity of the offense in the driving aptitude register is taken as a basis, since both assumptions apply to the plaintiff's case and the official order is therefore lawful. On the one hand, according to the court, the last offense was only 15 months ago, and on the other hand, the offense had not yet been eradicated from the driving aptitude register.

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