A woman parks her car with the engine running and leaves. The public order office has the locked car opened and charges the owner for the costs. He fights back – without success.
The alarm system beeps or the engine is running: if a parked car causes an acute disruption, the authorities can have it switched off if the owner cannot be reached.
A simple owner query is sufficient to determine it. Further investigations are not necessary. The holder must also bear the costs of the operation. This is shown by a judgment (Az.: 14 K 7125/21) by the Düsseldorf Administrative Court, to which the ADAC refers.
The case concerned a car that had been parked for several hours with the engine running. The wife of the vehicle owner turned it off and locked it. A local resident informed the public order office. The agency’s field staff then went to the scene.
When the owner was determined via the license plate, a residential address outside of the town was found, which was unsuccessfully called. A tow truck was then called, a tow company employee then smashed a window of the car and the engine was switched off. The costs of 150 euros for the use were billed to the owner of the vehicle. The man complained about that.
He didn’t think it was necessary to open the car and referred to his architect’s office at the same address, where he could have been reached. In addition, his wife could be found at a registered address a few meters from the parked car.
But the court agreed with the authorities. For example, a car parked with the engine running represents a violation of the road traffic regulations. The regulatory office was therefore allowed to eliminate this disruption.
It also made it clear: If the owner is not recognizable within call or sight range, no further investigations need to be carried out apart from the owner inquiry as a reasonable measure.
