Facts
The case concerns a traffic accident that occurred on June 22, 1979 in the municipality of Wädenswil. Driver [S.] was driving on the upper Bergstrasse towards Horgen when he collided with the motorcyclist B. coming from the right on the Waggitalstrasse. The district office (Statthalteramt) of the Horgen district fined [S.] for violation of Art. 36 para. 2 of the Swiss Road Traffic Act (SVG) (failure to grant the right of way). [S.] then requested a judicial review.
The single judge in criminal matters of the District Court of Horgen acquitted [S.] on May 16, 1980. The High Court (Obergericht) of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the district office's cantonal nullity appeal on December 8, 1980, as the intersection of the Waggitalstrasse and the upper Bergstrasse was not a road junction with the right of way within the meaning of Art. 36 para. 2 SVG, but an intersection without the right of way according to Art. 1 para. 8 sentence 2 of the Road Traffic Regulations (VRV).
The district office of the Horgen district then filed a nullity appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting that the High Court's decision be overturned and the case be remanded for a new assessment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the intersection of the Waggitalstrasse and the upper Bergstrasse should be considered a road junction with the right of way pursuant to Art. 36 para. 2 SVG and not an intersection without the right of way under Art. 1 para. 8 sentence 2 VRV.
Although the intersection appears to the driver on the Bergstrasse to be an insignificant country road, as the vegetation and slight gradient of the Waggitalstrasse obstruct the view, the driver…