To protect children, drivers often have to slow down to 30 km/h at schools. Several courts have already considered whether this regulation also applies outside of school hours.
Children and young people are rightly considered to be particularly in need of protection in our society. To ensure that our offspring are not unnecessarily exposed to potential dangers, the legislature has in many cases established special provisions and regulations for the protection of minors. These laws often affect not only relatives or people who, for example, have regular contact with children through their job, but also the rest of society. An example of this can be found in transport policy. While drivers in towns are generally subject to a speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour, near schools and daycare centers they are usually only allowed to speed up to 30 kilometers per hour.
The slowed down zones are intended to ensure that younger children in particular, who often do not have much experience in road traffic, can travel safely to school and play happily in the school yard without being threatened by speeding cars. However, it has not yet been uniformly determined whether this regulation also applies during school-free periods. The Road Traffic Act (StVO) simply states: “Anyone who drives a vehicle must behave towards children […] in particular by reducing the speed of travel and being prepared to brake, in such a way that endangering these road users is ruled out.”
Speed limit of 30 km/h in schools: take your foot off the gas when there are children around
In driving school, prospective drivers learn the meaning of all traffic signs, but in practice the speed limits are often ignored. As is well known, anyone who is caught by a speed camera has to pay a fine. This is particularly high if the speeder was traveling within a town. Not least for this reason, road users should pay particular attention to the signs on the side of the road, especially in urban areas.
The fact that in the vicinity of many educational institutions the speed limit is 30 instead of the usual 50 kilometers per hour is often made clear on the corresponding traffic signs with the word “school”. In many cases, a period is also specified, for example Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the afternoon, during which the 30 km/h zone must be adhered to. Outside this period, cars are allowed to accelerate to the usual 50 km/h in urban areas.
Tempo 30 in schools: Does the regulation also apply on public holidays and during the holiday season?
In principle, everyone seems to agree that 30 km/h zones near schools outside of learning times are not absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, there have been several legal disputes in this regard. In an article on the subject, the ADAC reports, among other things, a case in which a driver was caught speeding in such an area on Good Friday and took the fine to court. The responsible judges from the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court decided that the speeder was in the wrong because the holiday fell on a weekday.
If you follow this decision, you will have to slow down to 30 km/h at the times indicated on the signs, even during school holidays. However, as the ADAC experts further report, the case law on this topic is by no means uniform. In the past, for example, the Wuppertal district court came to the decision that the additional sign indicating the period for the 30 km/h rule did not apply on public holidays.
Speed limit of 30 km/h in schools: If in doubt, it's better to drive slower
Whether the 30 km/h zones have to be adhered to near schools on public holidays and during the holidays actually still seems to be a legal gray area. Nevertheless, if in doubt, drivers should slow down. As the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court explained in its reasons for the judgment, the additional sign with the inscription “School” only indicates the reason for the speed limit. This continues to apply on school-free days, as children often stay in the relevant areas on public holidays or during the holiday season, for example to take part in holiday care or to visit the playgrounds and sports fields in the schoolyards.
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Even if, strictly speaking, the little ones do not have to be at school to learn, according to the court's decision it cannot be guaranteed that there are not a comparatively large number of children on the streets in the area near a school. So that our children can get safely from A to B even when they are not at school, drivers should, at best, simply respect the 30 km/h zones all year round and drive more slowly as soon as a school is in sight.