More and more traffic violations by diplomatic cars

Berlin – Drivers of diplomatic cars were more frequently caught as traffic offenders in Berlin in 2024. The number of traffic violations committed by the police using vehicles of the diplomatic corps increased by ten percent compared to 2023. Stopping and parking violations were the most common, followed by speeding violations. This is according to the Berlin police's internal report. "18,288 traffic violation reports were registered for vehicles with diplomatic license plates," a police spokeswoman told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. In 2023, the police recorded 16,615 traffic violations. "Given that diplomatic immunity precludes any domestic criminal prosecution, all proceedings were discontinued by the Berlin public prosecutor's office," the police spokeswoman said. "For the same reason, the traffic violations could not be prosecuted." Drivers from two embassies have alternated at the top of the negative ranking for years. In 2024, drivers of the Saudi Arabian embassy committed 1,225 traffic violations, while drivers of the US embassy committed 1,162, followed by Iraq (850), Turkey (496), and Azerbaijan (482). Qatar, Egypt, Ukraine, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates are next on the list. In 2024, police counted 48 traffic accidents involving vehicles belonging to the diplomatic corps, including 19 accidents involving "personal injury": one person was killed, another seriously injured, and 19 people slightly injured. In more than half of the cases, the drivers fled the scene of an accident. Police investigated 28 cases on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident without permission. Twelve of these 28 accidents were caused by drivers of the diplomatic corps.