Driving license gone too quickly on foot

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It is well known that cyclists risk losing their license while under the influence of alcohol. Handicapped driving, with or without a motor, is handicapped driving. But you can even lose the ticket on foot or at home – or you have to fight for it at the same time to make a lot of money.

Can’t me it’s deceiving. A fall, a drunken walk, a message, a package, even an anonymous tip may suffice: suspected alcohol or drug consumption, mental or physical ailments (age!), expensive driving tests.

An anonymous tip is enough

Authorities should really have “reasonable doubts” about their suitability to drive. In fact: A drunk woman from Aargau sent a suicide threat message to a friend. He called the familiar police. Never wanting to kill herself, the woman immediately received a letter from the highway traffic office. The test request was only stopped in federal court.

“The Observer” wrote about a man from Basel-Land with an impeccable reputation. His package with cannabis seeds was noticed at customs – he passed the traffic psychology test. “Tages-Anzeiger” reported on a woman from Zurich who had no drug history and was blacklisted for alleged drug use. He was supposed to take the exam.

Even if immediate retrieval (temporary retrieval) of the ID card is not ordered, the fight for the certificate will be expensive. For example, the Zurich Highway Traffic Department offers around 900 to 1,200 francs for the traffic psychological test and 1,500 francs for the traffic medical test. In some cases, both must be completed – each with an upfront payment. More hair and urine samples follow, and thousands more quickly disappear. It is known that cases are almost exclusively brought to the Federal Supreme Court – but many of those affected are wary of it for cost reasons.

date equals exam

It is understandable that the person is examined with a corresponding story. Or if you look like you’ve had too little alcohol. Then the suspicion of an addiction problem is clear. According to the Federal Supreme Court, here too, people like to be very enthusiastic. In Aargau, a man broke his ankle at 2.3 per thousand. More than six years ago, he had to take the 1,000-franc test for drunk driving. The federal court said no.

In part, it is about participation in traffic without driving. Gallen, a woman had to go to an expert because she had a car accident on foot and had a blood alcohol level of three but appeared stable. In the same canton, Blick is aware of a case involving a man with an impeccable track record who was caught smoking cocaine as a passenger in a parked car. The man lost his ID card for six months because he was pulled through security. The Federal Supreme Court later ruled that no further checking of driving skill was required.

Reversing the burden of proof

But why is this allowed? Because the driving ability test is “only” an administrative procedure, not a criminal one. So the authorities do not need to prove guilt here, but rather the innocence of those affected. The reason the number of cases has risen sharply for some time was mainly due to the Via Sicura law, which came into effect in 2013: the authorities took a tough stance for good security.

This is often contrary to the case-law of the Federal Supreme Court. In recent years, withdrawals (from 80,200 to 70,700 per year from 2015 to 2020) and traffic psychology research (from 4,400 to 3,900) have declined – perhaps earlier, because the Federal Council has already made changes for greater legal certainty (see box above).

Source: Blick