Reply to a hearing form or witness questionnaire after a traffic offence (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The reply to the German fines authority on a hearing form (Anhörungsbogen), sent because you are accused of a traffic offence, or a witness questionnaire (Zeugenfragebogen), sent because the vehicle is registered to you. It gives the personal details the law requires and, on the facts, your choice: no statement, a statement only after inspecting the file, a declaration that you were not driving, or reliance on the right of witnesses to refuse to testify or answer (§§ 52 and 55 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, StPO). Nobody has to incriminate themselves or a close relative, and the letter names no driver. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Fines authority (name as on its letter)
- Fines authority's address (street and number, then postcode and town, each on its own line)
- City
- Date
- Case number
- Registration plate
- Which form you received: hearing form (you are accused of the offence) or witness questionnaire (the vehicle is registered to you)
- Date of the hearing form or witness questionnaire
- Birth name, if different
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Nationality
- Marital status
- Occupation
- Your answer on the facts (the accusation, or the question who was driving)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Do I have to fill in and return a German hearing form (Anhörungsbogen)?
- Personal details must be given when the authority asks for them: names, birth name, date and place of birth, marital status, occupation, address and nationality. False or refused details can be fined up to €1,000 (§ 111 OWiG). On the accusation itself you may stay silent (§ 55 OWiG, § 136 StPO), and nothing on the form has to be ticked. This letter replaces filling in the form; sign it and send it by post or fax to the authority that sent the form.
- Do I have to tell the German authority who was driving my car?
- Not if the driver is a relative: a fiancé or fiancée, spouse or registered partner, a relative in the direct line, a relative in the collateral line up to the third degree, or an in-law up to the second degree (§ 52(1) StPO). Nor need you answer questions whose answer would incriminate you (§ 55 StPO). There is no such right for anyone else. Silence has a price, though: the authority can order you to keep a logbook of every journey (§ 31a StVZO).
- May I name someone else as the driver to take the penalty points in Germany?
- No. Since 1 July 2026 it has been prohibited to deceive, or try to deceive, the authority about who was driving when an offence carrying penalty points was committed, and to offer or arrange such a false naming (trading in penalty points, Punktehandel), with fines of up to €30,000 (§ 4c StVG). That is why this letter names no driver. It contains your personal details and your decision to stay silent, ask for the file, state that you were not driving, or rely on your right to refuse.
- What happens in Germany if the driver cannot be identified?
- For a stopping or parking offence the registered keeper then bears the costs of the proceedings, but no fine (§ 25a StVG). For other offences the case usually ends without a fine, but the authority can order the keeper to keep a logbook for a set period (§ 31a StVZO). That is the trade-off against the right not to incriminate oneself or a relative.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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