Received a hearing form: What you must fill in – and what you should not

What is the hearing form?

Before the authority issues a fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid), it must hear you (sec. 55 OWiG). The hearing form (Anhörungsbogen) means: proceedings are under way, and you are considered the person concerned. It is not a fine notice – nothing has been decided yet.

What you must fill in (and nothing more)

Only the personal details are mandatory: name, address, date and place of birth, nationality. Providing false personal details is a separate regulatory offence.

Everything else is voluntary. You are not required to comment on the allegation – and in most cases you should not do so at this point. Whatever ends up in the file, you will not get out again.

The three most common mistakes

1. Admitting the offence “to speed things up”. That takes away every line of defence you have.
2. Naming another driver without considering the consequences. Relatives have a right to refuse testimony (Zeugnisverweigerungsrecht) – you do not have to incriminate your family.
3. Not reacting at all when you were not driving. Silence is your right; but if it is evident that someone else was driving, an early, lawyer-drafted response can end the matter quickly – before a logbook order (Fahrtenbuchauflage) looms.

A witness questionnaire is something different

If you are only a witness (e.g. as the vehicle keeper, when someone else was driving), the rule is: as a witness you must in principle answer truthfully, but you may remain silent to the extent that you would incriminate yourself or relatives.

Keep the limitation period in mind

Since 01.07.2026, the limitation period for prosecuting traffic regulatory offences is a uniform 6 months (sec. 26 para. 3 StVG, previously 3 months) – the hearing form interrupts it. If the fine notice only arrives after that period has expired, this can be a strong line of defence. We check this in the free initial review (more on the change in the law).

In short: Fill in your personal details, stay silent on the allegation, photograph the form and have it reviewed – that is the best order of steps in almost every case.