The right-of-way rule "right before left" does not apply to the lanes of parking spaces if they are primarily used to find a parking space and not for the flow of traffic.
"Rather, drivers are obliged to drive defensively and seek understanding with the other driver," said a statement from the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court published on Thursday.
The judges ruled on an accident in the parking lot of a hardware store in Wiesbaden.
According to the non-appealable verdict, the two parties involved must each pay half for the damage caused.
The driver who had complained had not kept to “right before left” and initially should have borne three quarters of the damage.
According to the Higher Regional Court, however, the other party involved in the accident cannot claim that his right of way was violated.
The road traffic regulations are generally applicable to publicly accessible private parking spaces such as that of the Wiesbaden hardware store.
However, tramlines in parking lots are not streets and therefore do not grant priority.
Something else only applies if the lanes have an unmistakable street character and it is clear from their structural design that they are not used to search for free parking spaces, but for access and exit.
The width of the lanes or structural features such as sidewalks, hard shoulders or ditches could speak for such a street character.