As of: March 6, 2024, 12:52 p.m
By: Michel Guddat
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Farmers dumped a pile of dung onto a road during a demonstration.
Are farmers now threatened with penalties?
© Olaf Schuelke/Imago
Roads blocked by tractors or dung heaps: farmers face fines or imprisonment.
Your driver's license is also at risk.
Frankfurt – The streets were clogged for hours.
Vehicle to vehicle, no forward and no turning back.
Those far ahead could see and hear it: flashing lights, loud horns, rattling engines.
A standstill brought about by the farmers' association with thousands of tractors across the country.
Protests, blockades and rallies cause traffic jams and chaos.
But will there be consequences for farmers?
Most recently, demonstrators dumped bales of hay and piles of dung on the streets to block traffic routes.
Obstacles and blockages pose a significant danger to drivers, especially on motorways. And not just in Germany: farmers all over Europe are banding together.
The farmers face fines or imprisonment because road blockages constitute “coercion”.
At
t-online,
traffic expert Uwe Lenhart commented on the situation: “The farmers' road blockades represent coercion.” According to Section 240 of the Criminal Code (StGB), an act, tolerance or omission is unlawfully forced on other road users.
This means that drivers are deliberately sent into traffic jams or forced to take long detours.
Depending on the individual case, prison sentences of up to three years or fines can be imposed.
But that's not all: When farmers dump piles of manure on the street, they endanger road safety.
This represents a threat to the life and limb of other people or other people's property, which is punished in accordance with Section 315b of the Criminal Code.
Here too, fines or prison sentences of up to five years are envisaged.
No truck driving license?
Farmers face driving bans or further fines
There is also a risk to farmers' driver's licenses and tax exemptions.
In order to work with tractors in the fields, driving license classes T and L, which allow a maximum speed of 60 or 40 km/h, are sufficient.
However, to drive on the road it would be necessary to purchase classes C and CE for trucks.
Vehicles used for agricultural and forestry purposes are also exempt from tax if they have a green license plate.
The problem lies here: “Licence classes T and L are only sufficient if the vehicle is actually used for agricultural and forestry purposes,” explains Lenhart.
A tractor at a demonstration is certainly not one of them.
If the driver does not have a truck driver's license, he is, strictly speaking, driving without a valid driver's license.
First-time offenders face fines or a driving ban.
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The green license plate and the associated tax exemption also have their rules.
Vehicles with a green license plate may not be used for non-company purposes.
Tax exemption is only possible after applying for motor vehicle tax.
Different treatment?
“The farmers have a different lobby than the climate activists”
The accusation of coercion became clearer elsewhere.
“Last Generation” climate activists are cleared from the streets while police worked with organizers during farmers’ protests.
At the request of
IPPEN.MEDIA
, lawyer Dr.
Alexander Betz: “Basically there is no difference.” However, the climate group often deliberately refrained from registering protests in order to cause unrest.
Similar to dumping piles of manure, this is viewed as coercion.
“The farmers have a different lobby than the climate activists – at least that’s my impression.
If the local farmers' association comes, it has a different weight than if there are three climate stickers," said Betz.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.