Hamm Higher Regional Court: Driver liable for half despite a child's violation of traffic rules.

The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm ruled in a judgment dated 4 April 2025 (case no. 7 U 16/24) that even in the case of a traffic violation by a child, the driver's liability can exist. The court allocated a fifty-percent liability to a car driver in an accident with an eleven-year-old cyclist.

The Case

An eleven-year-old boy rode his bicycle on the sidewalk in the wrong direction. At a curb ramp, he attempted to cross the street and collided with a slowly moving passenger car. The vehicle approached at a speed of around eight kilometres per hour.

Court decision

The Hamm Higher Regional Court imposed 50 percent co-liability on the driver. Although the child had violated traffic rules by driving in the wrong direction, the driver should have recognized the child's behavior and responded accordingly. In the court's view, there is a special protection for children in road traffic that does not completely disappear even in cases of their own rule violations.

Legal assessment

The ruling underscores the high standard of protection for minors in road traffic. Even if children disregard traffic rules, there can be contributory fault by other road users. Drivers have an elevated duty of care toward clearly at-risk persons, particularly toward children.