So I have received a fine for speeding. It was me driving, I know when and where it happened. I want to pay the fine, and don't want to make excuses. But with the fine I received a questionnaire, and it is a bit confusing. If I pay the fine with the provided info, do i need to send the answers, or is me paying enough? On the first page it says that paying is enough, but on the other one it says it's punishable if I don't answer the questions asked. I have edited the photo to hide personal info only, all else is there.
by lemmysirman
4 comments
You have to pay within a week, no need to send the questionnaire back.
The questionnaire is only relevant if you want to dispute the fine or name another driver. you can just ignore it.
A small bit of legal background: The german administrative offenses laws differentiate between “warnings” and formal fines. This is to not overcriminalize minor offenses and also to minimize administriation effort. Since there’s no legal remedy after an offense has been cleared by a warning fine, it has to be offered to and agreed to by the offender. The consequence of not agreeing is that a formal procedure has to be started instead, which will give you nothing but more money to pay if you admit to the violation anyway.
For that reason, the last two paragraphs say that if you agree to the warning, you should pay the amount within a weak and in that case refrain from sending in the questionnaire. Paying the fine is a non-written way to express your consent. It’s called “konkludentes Handeln” in german, not sure about the correct translation. The other paragraph then specifies that if you don’t agree to the warning or someone else has commited the offense, you are obliged to submit the information.
> but on the other one it says it’s punishable if I don’t answer the questions asked.
No, it says it’s punishable if you don’t answer correctly and truthfully.