The Austrian System for the Prosecution of Risk Drivers
came into force on 1 July 2005

The new system applies to all drivers in Austria and not only to the novice drivers, as is often erroneously supposed.

The Austrian System for the Prosecution of Risk Drivers (“Vormerksystem”) is a kind of endorsement system comprising a list of 13 offences; if committed, the offence is registered in the drivers' license register for a period of 2 years. If the driver commits a second offence (be it the same or a similar one) within these 2 years, he or she has to submit to certain measures (e.g. additional theoretical instruction and/or practical driving lessons, safer-driving training and education, perfection driving, etc. ) at his or her own expense. In case a third offence of this kind is committed within these 2 years, the driver’s license will be withdrawn for at least three months.

Offences that led to the withdrawal of the driver license before the introduction of the above system, e.g. driving under the influence of alcohol (in Austria:  BAC higher than 0.5 ‰), speeding (in Austria: driving faster than the allowed 40 km/h or 50 km/h, respectively), etc. remain unaffected, as do the corresponding fines.

13 offences, summarized as follows, are listed in the abovementioned catalogue:

• Endangering pedestrians on crossings
• Non-observance of sufficient distance from the car ahead (bumper-to-bumper driving)
• Non-observance of a “STOP” sign or red light, thus forcing other drivers to yield their right of way, by either forcing the other car to the side or by forcing its driver to stop abruptly
• Driving on the emergency lane, thereby potentially blocking emergency service vehicles
• Non-observance of the driving ban for motor vehicles carrying dangerous goods in tunnels
• Non-observance of warning lights and gates at railroad crossings
• Endangering public traffic safety by driving a vehicle with obvious technical deficiencies or unsecured load
• Failure to use child restraint systems: in Austria children under the age of 12 years and/or below a height of 150 cm have to be secured by an adequate child restraint system (child car seat or booster) and must not sit in the co-driver’s seat. 
• Driving under the influence of alcohol (BAC higher than 0.5 ‰ for all drivers and higher than 0.1 ‰ for drivers of trucks)

Registered offences are deleted after two years.