Baden-Württemberg: Cities are recording higher income from fines

If you drive too fast in the city, you not only endanger yourself, but also others. The fines for such offenses have been increased – and give the municipalities increasing income.

Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – Driving too fast or crossing the traffic light at red: The revenue from fines in the cities in the south-west increased significantly in the first half of 2022. In the state capital of Stuttgart, they totaled 11.5 million euros during this period. That is an increase of 5.2 million euros compared to the first half of 2021, said a spokesman for the German Press Agency.

On the one hand, the city sees an increase in the fines imposed as reasons for the increase. The authorities issued notifications around 525,000 times in the first half of the year (2021: 444,500). On the other hand, she referred to the increase in warnings and fines.

A renewed list of fines has been in force in Germany since last November – for example, anyone who drives 16 to 20 kilometers an hour too fast in town and is spotted by a speed camera now has to pay 70 instead of 35 euros.

Karlsruhe also recorded additional income from fines – by 3.6 million euros in the first six months of this year. According to the city, the revenue from violations in flowing traffic, such as exceeding the speed limit, was about twice as high as in stationary traffic. Here, too, the city suspects the increased fine rates as the reason. The number of controls and the number of cases remained almost the same.

In Mannheim, the income from fines amounted to 6.3 million euros in the first half of 2022. In the fan-shaped city, the focus of the controls had shifted significantly due to the pandemic, a spokeswoman said. Before the pandemic, in the first half of 2019, the city received 4.3 million euros from fines. The increase in the standard rates of the catalog of fines plays an important role in the increased income, the spokeswoman explained. The number of cases remained constant in Mannheim.

There was also more revenue for the city treasury in Ulm. Since, according to the information, there were no longer checks and the number of administrative offenses has not increased, a connection with the increased fines is obvious.