German man sues Pope for violating seatbelt laws by standing and waving from popemobile

A German man is suing the Pope for violating seatbelt laws on his visit to Dortmund by standing up in the back of the popemobile and waving (rather than remaining seated and buckled in, as the law apparently requires).

Sundermann's client surely does not have standing to sue to enforce the seatbelt law, and even if he did the Papst would have diplomatic immunity as a head of state. Sundermann has apparently suggested that because the defendant is still a German citizen, that wouldn't apply, but that is another argument he would lose. Sundermann has also said, unsurprisingly, that the suit is intended to increase public awareness of the seatbelt law, and is not actually "an attack on the Church." Hope God feels the same way, because a false lawsuit against the Pope is probably an Eighth Circle offense, I would guess. I know that seems harsh but I don't make the rules.

Pope Sued

(Image: 041908 166, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from dougtone's photostream)

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Jellodyne

Don’t they have parade floats in Germany? Surely there must be a loophole which allows standing on a slow moving vehicle.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Sebastian-Spinczyk/100001312688624 Sebastian Spinczyk
  
  Yeah, we have and yeah, there are. But it’s a German Law, so naturally it’s very complicated (Zere are procedures to go zrough!).
  I’m not entirely sure about all the exceptions, but *what* I know is that you’re not required to buckle up in any vehicle moving at “Schrittgeschwindigkeit” (literally “Walking speed”, it’s a legal term) and/or if you’re not in a vehicle that is required to have seatbelts (public buses, for example, are not). I’m pretty sure that covers both parade floats and the Papamobil.
  Furthermore, not buckling up is not actually a crime, but a misdemeanor, fineable by €30. Which I’m pretty much OK with.
  - retepslluerb
    
    The Pope mobiles does have seat belts, as far as I know, but the case in question implies clearly that walking speed would not get exceeded and thus the seat belt rule would not apply.
    
    Quite sensibly.
    
    I still will not start the car before everybody’s buckled in, though.
Zero Sonico

Nothing says “faith in God” as bullet-proof glass.
- http://profiles.google.com/marc.k.mielke Marc Mielke
  
  Not using a seatbelt could be seen as an act of faith.
- http://twitter.com/shutterex Grzegorz Rogala
  
  William Melvin Hicks RIP
- adamnvillani
  
  God never told us our faith would make us physically invincible. You do know the Popemobile came about after JPII got shot in 1981, right?
http://twitter.com/tehsnarf Hoover

“Hope God feels the same way, because a false lawsuit against the Pope is probably an Eighth Circle offense, I would guess. I know that seems harsh but I don’t make the rules.”
Really depends on which version of God we’re talking about; Old Testament “Fire and Brimstone” God, or the new-age Hippy God
That_Anonymous_Coward

I’ll just leave a few things here…

http://verydemotivational.memebase.com/2010/10/17/demotivational-posters-popemobile/

http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2009/03/30/political-pictures-pope-benedict-xvi-africa-protection/
Bink Binkerson

Put that pope on a rope! Like Doritos, they just keep making more of them.
http://gmkeros.wordpress.com/ John

well, the German word used in the German articles is “anzeigen”, which means “to report” and not “to sue”. And according to a well-known legal principle in Germany you can report pretty much everything you want to the police, it will just get thrown out once they find no actual lawbreaking has taken place. Imagine that process with the glowering stares of policemen fully aware that you are wasting their time.
- RuthlessRuben
  
  Knowing German policemen, they were probably silently amused and professional about it. I guess and average day on the force in Dortmund is brightened considerably by somebody reporting the pope for a traffic fine.
http://twitter.com/SarcPup Sarcastic Puppet

“Hope God feels the same way, because a false lawsuit against the Pope is probably an Eighth Circle offense, I would guess. I know that seems harsh but I don’t make the rules.”

I would be very surprised if she cared whether the successor of Saint Peter the Apostle was wearing his seat belt in a vehicle that rolls at about 5kph.
Christopher Miller

How does this anonymous guy have standing to sue the Pope? What damages did he suffer? Not sure how the law works in Germany but I’d be surprised if it lacked the concept of standing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_(law)
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Not sure how the law works in Germany but I’d be surprised if it lacked the concept of standing.
  
  Anglo-Saxon Common Law and Salic/Napoleonic Law have quite a few differences.
  - Christopher Miller
    
    Is this one of them?
Brian C.

I love locus standi!
http://www.mrericsir.com MrEricSir

There’s so many good reasons to sue the pope. This is not one of them.
l337n00b

Is anyone suing the pope for complicity in molesting tens of thousands of children worldwide? Oh wait, diplomatic immunity… rats.
TheHowl

Hey, I’m all for this guy. If people want to create nanny-state laws, they ought to at least enforce them equally. :)
UrbanUndead

The… “Pabst?” This could inspire a huge influx of hipsters to Catholicism!
- HahTse
  
  The REALLY funny thing is that in German, a paBst is a sort of vomitory.
donovan acree

I guess the take away is that the law does not apply equally to everyone. Shame, that.
- ChicagoD
  
  Actually the take away is that a publicity-stunt court filing garnered publicity. Shame, that.
peregrinus

Sheesh (can’t very well write Jeez can I) – I agree – imagine something rammed him from behind. It would be in poor taste for me to draw any parallels to choir boys. *balls* hail mary hail mary
yovo68

First, he is not suing – he reported the Pope for a “moving violation” … however, the pope is a protected by diplomatic immunity anyway, so this is a non-starter. But yes – my hometown is full of pissants. At least the cops did not pepperspray the guy …
http://twitter.com/cbuchner1 Christian Buchner

The city decided not to pursue this as this particular road had been closed to general traffic that day, and hence the traffic code was not in effect. So the pope did not break any law or code by not wearing a seatbelt.
nicholas

In Australia, not wearing a seatbelt in a vehicle is a crime against the driver of the vehicle. Recently the Queen visited and didn’t wear a seatbelt – technically the driver should have been fined.
ghostbear

It’s kind of moot. Germany is like the U.S. the Pope is the head of state so isn’t subject ot the laws of Germany nor the U.S.
http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith

I hope Mr Sundermann has good lightening protection in place.
benher

Suing the Pope?! Holy Shit!
Johannes Grauert

I am from Dortmund and I am pretty shure that the Pope never visited our town in his “papamobil”. Maybe the reporting refers to another town, Freiburg perhaps?