Because of an emergency stop for a cat, there was an accident in the Harz foreland with three injured.
According to the police, a 20-year-old learner driver stepped on the brakes abruptly on Friday because the four-legged friend suddenly crossed the street in Ermsleben so as not to run over the animal.
A 31-year-old girl from Magdeburg could no longer react in time and hit the driving school car violently.
The woman, the learner driver and the 41-year-old driving instructor came to hospitals, according to the police.
Emergency braking justified only with large animals
According to the road traffic regulations, if a vehicle is following you may only brake suddenly if there is a "compelling reason".
Courts rate an emergency braking for small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, but also domestic cats mostly as unfounded - if there is a rear-end collision in such cases, the person braking has to assume part of the damage.
In the case of larger animals such as deer, horses or wild boars, on the other hand, emergency braking is justified because of the considerable consequences of the accident that can be expected.
mpz / dpa
