Ticket inspectors on public transport
In Stuttgart, they found their approach to the problem of fare dodgers. The Swabians, considered penny-pinching, decided no longer to stand on ceremony with them.
Last week, on Friday, which someone might now call 'Black Friday' for themselves, two policemen approached a 24-year-old young man at the station in Bad Cannstatt and asked for his documents, then invited him to come with them. He was a fan of free rides who had already racked up fines totalling 600 euros and had no intention of paying. Now a 60-day jail term awaited him.
That same evening, another 'hare', older in age, faced an equally bleak prospect. He was caught at the Main Station of the Baden-Württemberg capital. The 51-year-old Stuttgart resident had 417 euros in unpaid fines for fare-dodging trips. That was less than the young man mentioned above, so the prison term handed to him was 10 days shorter.
Among the fare dodgers who spit on the fines issued to them, there are also some record-holders. So, last Sunday morning, a 42-year-old 'hare' traveler, taken into custody at the Stuttgart-Stadtmitte S-Bahn stop, managed to accumulate fines totaling 1750 euros! Accordingly, the 'boarding house' with bars on the windows will be open for him longer (or rather, closed): he will spend 125 days there.
But the final punishment is not determined solely by the fare-dodging itself. The term can increase significantly if you frankly tell inspectors what you think of them. Especially if you resort to expressions that children should not use. This was experienced by a 23-year-old 'hare' caught on Monday night at the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen S-Bahn station, who had accumulated unpaid fines totaling 629 euros, including for insulting inspectors. That sum was converted into 77 days of jail time.
As 'Russkaya Germaniya' writes, in all these cases it was about repeat offender 'hares'. 'If there were one or two cases, prison is not a threat here,' the Federal Police spokesperson assured everyone. Nevertheless, riding without a ticket is a crime, a type of fraud (Section 265a of the Criminal Code, up to one year imprisonment!), which many are not even aware of.