Accident when changing lanes on the Autobahn: Raser is partly to blame

Created: 10/18/2022, 4:30 p.m

By: Sebastian Oppenheimer

An RS6 Avant is driving on the left lane of the autobahn, suddenly a mobile home swerves – it crashes.

According to the court, the Audi driver is partly to blame.

Someone is driving in the left lane on the autobahn, but suddenly someone swerves from the lane to the right – and an accident occurs.

At first glance it seems clear: the lane changer is solely to blame.

Not necessarily - as a judgment by the Munich Higher Regional Court (Az.: 10 U 7382/21 e) shows.

In this case, the driver in the left lane was held responsible – primarily because he was driving significantly faster than the recommended speed.

Accident when changing lanes on the Autobahn: Raser is partly to blame

In the case under discussion, the driver of an Audi RS6 Avant was driving at around 200 km/h in the left lane of a motorway – in a section without a speed limit.

Suddenly, a camper changed from the middle to the left lane, which resulted in a collision.

In the first instance, the Munich I Regional Court ruled that the driver of the mobile home was solely responsible for the consequences of the accident.

However, he did not agree: he appealed – with success.

If you significantly exceed the recommended speed, you may be partly to blame in an accident.

(Iconic image) © Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa

Accident verdict: According to the court, a crash could have been avoided if the recommended speed had been observed

In its verdict, the Munich Higher Regional Court awarded the Audi driver 25 percent complicity.

Although the lane changer is usually solely liable if he violates his duty of care, in this case his speed was the undoing of the RS6 driver.

As the court explained, exceeding the recommended speed (130 km/h) by 70 km/h increased the operational risk of the vehicle.

In addition, the accident could have been avoided if the recommended speed had been observed.

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In general, speeders on motorway sections without a speed limit can also be severely penalized if they do not cause an accident or are in a race with another car.

In the Criminal Code (StGB) there is the legal element of "single speeder" or "single race": § 315d paragraph 3 states that a penalty is also imposed if a driver "moves at an inappropriate speed and grossly contrary to traffic and recklessly in order to achieve the highest possible speed".

Because of such a "single race" not so long ago, investigations were carried out into a Bugatti Chiron driver who was speeding down a German autobahn at up to 417 km/h - but in the end the proceedings were dropped.