Lodging an Objection to the Fine Notice
The objection is filed in writing, or made for the record, with the administrative authority that issued the fine notice (§ 67(1) OWiG). The provision does not require reasons. You may also limit the objection to specific points of complaint (§ 67(2) OWiG).
The authority decides on an application to inspect the file before it forwards the file on (§ 69(3) sentence 2 OWiG, § 49(1) OWiG, § 147 StPO). Only the file shows which measuring device was used, who operated it and when it was last calibrated.
How Fine Proceedings Reach the Local Court
The process begins with a hearing. The authority gives you the opportunity to comment on the allegation (§ 55(1) OWiG, § 163a(1) StPO); the hearing form is the usual vehicle for this. Only after that is the fine notice issued.
If the objection is admissible, the administrative authority examines whether to maintain the notice or withdraw it (§ 69(2) OWiG). If it maintains it, the file passes via the public prosecutor’s office to the Local Court (§ 69(3) sentence 1 OWiG), where the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure on objecting to a penal order apply (§ 71(1) OWiG).
For offences from 1 July 2026, prosecution of a regulatory offence under § 24(1) StVG becomes time-barred after six months (§ 26(3) sentence 1 StVG). An older offence is time-barred if by the end of 30 June 2026 three months had passed since the offence or the last interruption without a notice. Where the three-month period was still running on 1 July 2026, no higher court has settled which period applies.
After each interruption the period starts running again. It is interrupted, among other things, by the first examination of the person concerned and by the issuing of the fine notice, provided it is served within two weeks (§ 33(1) sentence 1 nos. 1 and 9 OWiG).
Standard Rates for Speeding, Red Lights and Phone Use
The amounts in the catalogue of fines are standard rates. They assume ordinary circumstances and, in Section I, negligent conduct (§ 1(2) BKatV). Where the standard rate is no more than €55, the authority instead imposes a formal-warning fee (§ 1(1) sentence 2 BKatV).
Speeding and Speed Cameras
For cars, Table 1(c) of the Annex to the BKatV applies. Within built-up areas the catalogue provides for €180 where the limit is exceeded by 26 to 30 km/h (no. 11.3.5). At 31 to 40 km/h within built-up areas the standard rate rises to €260, plus a one-month driving ban (no. 11.3.6).
The measurement itself can be challenged. We check the calibration certificate, how the device was set up, the training of the officer who operated it and the measurement log, and apply for an expert opinion where necessary.
Red-Light and Phone Offences
The basic red-light offence costs €90 and carries one point (no. 132 of the catalogue of fines, Annex 13 no. 3.2.19 FeV). If the red phase had already lasted more than one second when the vehicle crossed the line, it is €200, two points and a one-month driving ban (no. 132.3, Annex 13 no. 2.2.8 FeV).
The length of the red phase follows from the measurement log. For phone offences under § 23(1a) StVO the catalogue sets €100 and one point (no. 246.1, Annex 13 no. 3.2.15 FeV). Where the offence created a danger it is €150; where it caused damage, €200, each with a one-month driving ban (nos. 246.2 and 246.3).
Driving Ban, Points and Loss of the Licence
A driving ban under § 25(1) sentence 1 StVG lasts one to three months. It requires that you grossly or persistently breached the duties of a driver. § 4(2) sentence 2 BKatV generally assumes persistence where, within one year of a fine for driving at least 26 km/h too fast becoming final, you again drive at least 26 km/h too fast.
The ban takes effect at the latest one month after the decision becomes final (§ 25(2) StVG). If no driving ban against you was final in the two years before the offence, § 25(3) StVG postpones the start by up to four months after finality, so you can plan when to serve it.
Standard Driving Ban and Departing From It
§ 4(1) BKatV lists the offences for which a driving ban for gross breach of duty is generally considered. These include the speeding numbers 11.1 to 11.3 and the red-light numbers 132.1 to 132.3. Where a ban is ordered, the duration set there applies as the standard case.
Where the court exceptionally refrains from a driving ban, it should increase the standard fine appropriately instead (§ 4(4) BKatV). The regulation does not prescribe a fixed factor for this. We present the circumstances of your case before Augsburg Local Court.
Points in Flensburg and the Driver Fitness Seminar
Entries in the driver fitness register are deleted on a staggered basis (§ 29(1) StVG). For regulatory offences carrying one point, the period is two years and six months. Five years applies for two points and for criminal offences; ten years for criminal offences in which the licence was withdrawn or an isolated ban was ordered.
At four or five points a written caution is issued, at six or seven a written formal warning (§ 4(5) sentence 1 nos. 1 and 2 StVG). From eight points the licence must be withdrawn. A voluntary driver fitness seminar deducts one point as long as your total is between one and five points, and it works only once every five years (§ 4(7) StVG).
Further Information
These topics may also be of interest:
This information does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.
