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The Greens want that dodging is no longer considered an offense. The green legal politicians from federal and state governments have issued a declaration that black driving in the future should only count as a misdemeanor.
So far, there is the so-called promotion inequality under paragraph 265a in the Criminal Code. As I have gathered from the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", about a thousand people end up in jail every year for using a suburban train or subway without a valid ticket. Considering what you normally have to do to get stuffed, that's a staggering number.
I am not suspected of being a great follower of the Greens. Most of the suggestions that they make, I consider nasty or even harmful. But on this point they are right, I think. I would be at once to decriminalize the dodgy driving.
The Greens argue that it is above all people who end up in jail who can not afford the fine. Those who do not pay within the specified time limit are threatened with a substitute imprisonment, as prison out of poverty means. Every seventh convicted of being a doomsday driver is arrested on account of insolvency.
That is socially unjust, say the Greens - a worthy argument. Even more convincing, however, seems to me to be the reason for the notorious unreliability of the railway. I would go so far as to classify dodgy driving as self-defense.
Bedeppert on the track
Other than my columnist use on traffic issues may suggest, I am a daily suburban passenger. I stopped counting how many times she failed me in the past twelve months. Its operator, the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (MVV), always finds a reason why it treats its customers like idiots. Either the signal box is broken. Or there was a signal disturbance. Or it's something on the engine. In any case, one stands bewitched on the track and hopes that the waiting has an end.
Since moving from Berlin to Munich, much of my everyday life has become easier. The application for a new passport takes place in hours instead of days. The police are not only friendly but also efficient. If I forgot to finish my car, it is very likely tomorrow where I left it, because the habitual thief prefers to avoid Munich.
What has clearly deteriorated, however, is the punctuality in local traffic. I thought it unthinkable that Berlin could even undercut the S-Bahn service. The MVV manages to do that, by far.
The other day I had to go to the airport. Three stops before arriving at the terminal, the driver reported to inform that the train did not go to the airport as planned, but took the road to Freising. Passengers in the direction of the airport should please get off. On the platform it was then said, the next train will arrive in 20 minutes, or maybe later. Anyone with enough mindset grabbed a taxi. Of the poor travelers who trusted the services of the Munich public transport, most have missed their flight.
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This is how it is day in, day out. No one feels it necessary to apologize or give a reason for the delays. "Why?", One seems to say to the MVV. The people have their ticket solved, there is no refund at the S-Bahn anyway. And where should one turn with a complaint too? At the ticket office in the station? Until one's turn, one has once again spent half a day.
Conversely, however, the train knows no mercy. Woe to the idiot, who puts on goodwill.
A colleague recently had a bike with her. She had also devalued two stripes on her stripe card for carrying the bike, as she has been doing for years. Unfortunately, the rules changed unnoticed by her: Now, who has a bike with it, must solve an extra bike ticket. When she got into a ticket check, it turned out that she had not paid fifteen cents.
Do you think that the inspectors had a look or might have thought, "The woman was certainly five times late last month because the train was down again, would not we be too petty"? The colleague got a 60 Euro penalty, payable within 14 days. 60 euros for 15 cents shortage. In case of default, foreclosure threatens.
You have to hit the system where it hurts
Sometimes I think we are too good-natured as a people. I often stand on the platform and wonder how calm people stay. No one gets upset that he misses his appointment or the children wait in vain at the day care center. Nobody yells out his anger.
SPIEGEL researched a few weeks ago in a cover story of why so many people lose their nerve in everyday life. For me, not the "why" is the question, but why it does not happen much more often.
If one protests, one reaps only a mocking laugh. Or one is dispatched with the reference to the conditions of carriage, according to which "as compensation amount for delays from 60 minutes per journey a flat rate of 1.50 euros" are stated, whereby "fares under an amount of 4.00 euros" are not disbursed however.
You have to hit the system where it hurts. I decided to drive only black.