Highway police successfully halt train at Wachtendonk after a keen observation.
On July 6, 2025, at 4:00 PM, a French articulated lorry was traveling on the A40 towards Dortmund, Germany. The vehicle, which was carrying a trailer with a suspicious-looking registration plate, caught the attention of German authorities.
The registration plate on the trailer had a white "D" and was covered with blue foil, concealing the country code, which is against the law. The number and letter combination on the license plate originally belonged to a German registration, but it had been invalid for approximately a year.
The driver and the owner of the lorry were charged for a series of offenses. They were charged for using a registration plate that had originated from a German registration and had been invalid for about a year. They were also charged for covering the country code of the registration plate with blue foil.
Additionally, the driver was prohibited from continuing with the trailer until further notice due to the violation. Criminal charges were filed against the driver for misuse of license plates, violation of the mandatory insurance law, and document forgery. The owner faced similar charges for the same offenses as the driver.
The German Sunday driving ban primarily targets heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) with a maximum authorized mass exceeding 7.5 tonnes and those with trailers, even if empty. Under Section 30(3) of the German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO), these vehicles are prohibited from operating on Sundays and public holidays, generally from midnight (00:00) to 22:00 across the entire road network in Germany.
Recently, some German states such as Lower Saxony, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia have partially loosened these Sunday and holiday truck bans, especially temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain challenges, to allow transportation of non-perishable food and hygiene products, aiming to keep shelves stocked and avoid bottlenecks.
Forging foreign license plates, including French ones, is a criminal offense under German and European law. Such actions can lead to criminal charges including fines, confiscation of the vehicle, and possibly imprisonment under German criminal law and EU regulations. However, direct information regarding specific cases of forged French license plates was not found in the search results.
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of adhering to traffic regulations and the consequences of violating them. The case is currently under investigation, and further updates will be provided as they become available.
[1] German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) [2] German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure [3] German Road Safety Council [4] European Commission [5] International Road Transport Union
- The German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) prohibits concealing the country code on a registration plate with blue foil, as was done by the driver in the aforementioned incident.
- Additionally, using a registration plate that originated from a German registration and had been invalid for over a year, as was the case in the mentioned incident, falls under the category of offenses in German finance, transportation, and general-news industries.
- Crime-and-justice channels reported that the driver was charged for misuse of license plates, violation of the mandatory insurance law, and document forgery, although specific cases of forged French license plates were not found in the search results when investigated further.
