Facts
The Basel-Landschaft police withdrew [A.] 's driver's license for one month because he overtook a trailer train on the right with a delivery van and a livestock trailer on the A2/A3 highway near Liestal. The Basel-Landschaft Cantonal Court overturned this decision and referred the matter back to the police for re-evaluation. The Basel-Landschaft police appealed this decision to the Federal Court.
The respondent had driven his vehicle from Basel towards Zurich/Bern/Lucerne on the A2/A3 highway on July 4, 2011, and switched from the first overtaking lane to the normal lane at the height of the Liestal highway exit in order to overtake the trailer train on the right. This maneuver was recorded by a police patrol.
The Basel-Landschaft Penal Court had found the respondent guilty of violating the Road Traffic Regulations and the Animal Protection Act and sentenced him to a fine of CHF 600.--. The Basel-Landschaft police subsequently withdrew the respondent's driver's license for one month.
Considerations
The Federal Court had to decide whether the respondent's overtaking on the right on the highway constituted a minor, medium or serious offense. The lower court had assumed a minor offense, as the maneuver had taken place on a dry road, in daylight and with good visibility, and the truck driver had made his lane change early in order to continue driving on the dividing first overtaking lane towards Zurich at the Augst junction.
However, the Federal Court followed the argumentation of the appellant that overtaking on the right on the highway is an objectively important rule for traffic safety, whose disregard poses a significant risk to traffic safety with considerable accident risk. The Federal Court found that the caused danger is not minor and thus the…