Today’s topic is the so-called gawper ban!
In August 2018, an amendment to the Security Police Act came into force, which enables the police to send away gawpers, i.e. onlookers who obstruct the assistance of the emergency services and also interfere with the privacy of the person involved in the accident.
Today we deal with the so-called eCall system! Since March 31, 2018, vehicles of class M1 and N1, i.e. passenger cars and commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons maximum permissible mass, must be equipped with a so-called eCall system when they are newly placed on the market.
Since 2019 it is possible to use a digital vignette instead of the conventional vignette.
Today we are dealing with the question of whether it is permissible to drive on the bus stop area of a bus of regular motor transport, or bus stop for short.
The answer is relatively short and simple: Yes, it is allowed. It is even allowed to stop and park on a bus stop. In order to stop and park, I must of course first be allowed to drive on it.
It is like this: Outside the operating hours I am allowed to park on a bus stop until the first bus leaves the next day in the morning. Within the operating hours, you are allowed to stop briefly at a bus stop to let someone on or off. Especially in rural areas, there are sometimes bus stops where a bus comes maybe three or four times. Here the question arises: Am I now not allowed to park from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., even though a bus only comes three times?
That is not the case! In such a case, parking is prohibited 15 minutes before the arrival time and 15 minutes after the arrival time, but stopping to let someone on or off is allowed. At the other times, parking is allowed as usual at such bus stops.
There are different types of bus stops. First there is the breakdown bay and then there are bus stops that are simply marked by a bus stop sign without floor markings and then there are bus stops with floor markings. Here you can see again and again how many drivers make a big circle around such a bus stop, as if it were a huge pothole, because many are of the opinion that it is not allowed to drive on this bus stop. But it is not only allowed, it is even obligatory to drive over this stop, because you have to keep to the right. This means that you must drive as far to the right as is reasonable. This means: Next time, please bear in mind that you are allowed/must drive over the bus stops, but please do not confuse these bus stops with bus lanes, which you are not allowed to drive over under any circumstances!
I hope I have been able to help you with what I have to say today about driving on a bus stop and I would be happy if you would leave your comments there on my social media channels.
Today I am devoting myself to the , Tobacco and Non-Smokers Protection Act.
What changed?
Here, the minimum age was raised from 16 to 18 years and one is now only allowed to buy and consume cigarettes oneself from the age of 18. Furthermore, if a person under the age of 18 is in a private car, it is now forbidden for all other passengers to smoke in the vehicle. For this, administrative fines of 100 € and in case of repetition even up to 1000 € may be due. Of course, this change in the law also leads to some paradoxical situations. If a 16-year-old apprentice serves in a smoky smoking restaurant all day, this is ok, but if his mother picks him up from work in the evening and smokes a cigarette in the car, you will be subject to administrative fines of up to €1,000.
My conclusion
In principle, however, it is absolutely to be welcomed that when a minor is sitting in the car, no one else reaches for a cigarette. However, I see a problem here again in the enforcement of this law, because in this law it is possible for the police to impose penalties when driving past. This means: the police officer sees a person smoking in the car and recognises that an underage person is also in the car and can thus send a fine directly afterwards. Then, of course, you get the driver’s information in which only the driver has to be stated and not the smoker himself. It would probably have been better if this offence had been made a so-called stopping offence.
This was my short and crisp point of view on this change in the law and I would be happy if you let me know on my social media channels what you think about this change.
Dear friends of the driving school at AKH!
Today, in this article, I deal with the breakdown lane as a traffic lane. When I was writing the Drive Mondays about the emergency lane, I often asked myself: Why do you use an emergency lane when there are breakdown lanes everywhere in Austria, on which the emergency vehicles could also move forward?
My personal assumption was that the day will come when the breakdown lane will presumably be abandoned and then, of course, you need an emergency lane, otherwise the emergency vehicles will no longer be able to get to the scene of the accident.
And behold: now the time has come! There is already the temporary possibility of leaving hard shoulders open for a certain period of time and making them into a traffic lane. Traffic cameras and ASFINAG’s traffic managers help to determine whether this is necessary. If the specialists are of the opinion that it is necessary, then the emergency lane is released.
This means that the breakdown lane is signalled with a lane signalisation that the breakdown lane can now be used. In addition, signs have been erected indicating that the hard shoulder can now be used as a traffic lane.
This solution is of course to be welcomed, but of course it will not be applicable everywhere. Especially in the vicinity of urban conurbations, there are often no breakdown lanes or the existing breakdown lanes are extremely narrow. Since hard shoulders increase road safety per se, they will always be a temporary solution.
Please leave me your opinion on the temporary use of hard shoulders as traffic lanes on my social media channels. I would be really interested to hear what you think about this issue.
Dear friends of the driving school at AKH,
today we are dealing with the Immission Control Act Air, or IGL for short.
To whom does the law apply?
This applies to all motor vehicles with a few exceptions. That means, even if it sounds a bit strange, the law also applies to purely electric vehicles. There are different regulations that can be issued. On the one hand according to the Road Traffic Act, on the other hand according to the so-called IGL.
Let’s take the example of a speed limit:
In the local area of Vienna there is a 50 km/h limit anyway, according to the Road Traffic Act, and the entire municipal area of Vienna is also a 50 km/h zone according to the IGL. The whole thing is always visible on these big boards with 50 kmh zone with the Immission Control Act-Air on the additional board.
However, Vienna also has open country roads such as the Höhenstraße. Here you pass the traffic sign “Wien Ende” and therefore it is an open country road. There is a general restriction of 100 km/h there according to the road traffic regulations! According to the IGL, however, there is a restriction of 50 km/h and this also applies to electric vehicles!
A bicycle, for example, is not subject to the IGL and would therefore be allowed to travel at 100 km/h on the elevated road.
The IGL regulations are also applied on various motorways. Speed limits are repeatedly imposed here in accordance with the IGL. If, for example, the StVO allows 130 km/h, this provision can be overruled by an IGL supplementary plate.
What happens in the event of a violation?
Penalties of up to €2,180 are imposed for violations of the IGL.
It should also be noted that coercive measures can be imposed on offenders in breach of the Immission Control Act-Air, for example: The removal of the vehicle key, or the provisional removal of the driving licence.
Now let’s get to the innovation!
The current amendment to the law includes the change that in future electric cars will be exempt from the speed limits according to the IGL. However, the electric cars must meet the following criteria:
I hope I have been able to give you a better understanding of the Immission Control Act – Air, and if you have any questions about it, I will be happy to answer them.
Please just get in touch on my social media channels and tell me what you would like to know.
Furthermore, I would be really happy if you follow me on our social media channels! Thank you very much!
Dear friends of the driving school at AKH! Today we would like to introduce you to the most important amendments to the Driving Licence Act and the Motor Vehicles Act, which came into force at the end of 2018 and the start of 2019 respectively.
Dear friend of the driving school at AKH,
In today’s post, we’ll look at the theory exam process! In particular, we want to take a closer look at the legally prescribed and technical procedure of a theory test.