In 2021, the Danish Parliament adopted the so‑called “reckless driving package” – a tightening of existing legislation. The aim is to combat high-speed and dangerous driving by imposing stricter penalties. A particularly controversial element of the law is that police must seize and confiscate vehicles used for reckless driving.
Since 2021, according to Danish Police, motorists in Denmark have been charged with reckless driving more than 5,400 times. The confiscated vehicles are typically sold at auction, and since 2021 such sales have generated more than DKK 84 million.
The law makes no distinction between whether the vehicle is owned by the offender or by a third party. As a result, the police confiscate cars belonging to people who have not committed any crime – something researchers from the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen consider problematic.
“It is very rare that I come across a legal issue where I can feel deep down that something is wrong,” says Jens Elo Rytter, Professor at the Centre for Public Regulation and Administration.
“The fundamental problem is that under this legislation, situations can easily arise where one person has done something wrong and others end up paying the price. For a lawyer – and for most people – that offends the sense of justice,” he says.
Hardest on private individuals
Jens Elo Rytter, a Professor of constitutional law, together with lawyer and Associate Professor Mikael Kenno Fogde, points to a number of legal challenges in the current legislation.
A third party risks having their vehicle seized and confiscated if it has been used for reckless driving. This also applies to leased vehicles or cars lent by a dealership for test drives. However, while leasing companies and dealers can generally protect themselves through contracts requiring customers to assume liability, the situation is rarely as straightforward when private individuals lend out their cars.
“Our article focuses on private loans – for example when someone lends their car to a family member or a friend who is then caught driving recklessly. In many situations, the owner has no way of foreseeing that lending out the car will lead to reckless driving. And typically, they will not have legal safeguards in place like a dealer or leasing company would,” says Jens Elo Rytter.
A simple solution
If your car has been confiscated, you could simply buy it back at auction when the authorities sell it. Something several owners have done, according to Jens Elo Rytter.
“To me, that clearly illustrates that something is wrong with the law. If the point really is to take the car away from the owner, it makes little sense that they can just buy it back,” he says.
He also argues that there is a degree of arbitrariness in focusing on the vehicle as part of the penalty:
“Someone can commit reckless driving in an old car worth 5,000 kroner or in a car worth several million. It is the same offence, but the penalty varies enormously,” he says.