Freiburg/Konstanz (dpa/lsw) – The legal dispute over signs from Lake Constance residents for a voluntary 30 km/h speed limit is set to continue – but in a variant that has not yet been explicitly discussed in court. Those affected should receive a new official letter to remove the controversial signs, against which a lawsuit will then be filed, as those involved made clear. The reason: Not only the complaining citizens from the Höri peninsula on Lake Constance are interested in clarifying the case legally, but also the defendant district office in Konstanz, the authority told the German Press Agency upon request.
Essentially, it’s about whether residents are allowed to use their own signs on their properties to appeal to drivers to reduce their speed in town thoroughfares. According to the district office, this is not allowed – the signs represent an interference with public road traffic, as the authority explained.
In mid-October, the Freiburg administrative court dismissed three lawsuits brought by citizens against the district office as inadmissible. The plaintiffs from Lake Constance are supported by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which says it wants to obtain a landmark judgment (cases 6K 1866/22, 6K 1867/22 and 6K 1868/22).
The district office has now announced that the complaining citizens will receive so-called prohibition notices, said plaintiff’s lawyer Remo Klinger upon request. “We will therefore then sue against these prohibition notices and not appeal,” said Klinger, referring to the decision already made by the Freiburg Administrative Court.
“The Freiburg Administrative Court will then decide on the matter,” said lawyer Klinger, outlining the further process. In its first decision in October, the court complained that the district office’s previous letters in the sign dispute were not “contestable administrative acts”. Rather, fines against citizens were merely announced.
The district office confirmed that it would still issue the so-called administrative acts. A spokesman said the authority will soon inform the affected citizens in writing about what to do next.
At the oral hearing in October, the different points of view on the voluntary 30 km/h speed limit clashed. The word “Voluntary”, a modeled 30 km/h speed limit sign and silhouettes of running children can be seen on the disputed boards. In the opinion of the DUH, the signs can be clearly distinguished from official traffic signs. The usual limit of 50 kilometers per hour applies in municipalities.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:231122-99-34866/2
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