Saxony-Anhalt: More traffic controls for Father's Day

Plenty of beer and still driving - police officers want to prevent that with more traffic controls on Father's Day.

Saxony-Anhalt: More traffic controls for Father's Day

Plenty of beer and still driving - police officers want to prevent that with more traffic controls on Father's Day.

Halle (dpa/sa) - Around Ascension Day, the police in Saxony-Anhalt want to increase traffic control. On Thursday - Father's Day - the driving ability of road users will be checked, said a police spokesman. The officials had already been on duty with additional units in previous years.

Drivers with a blood alcohol level of more than 0.5 are committing an administrative offence, the spokesman said. From a limit of 1.1 per mille there is even a criminal offense. The same applies to drivers of e-scooters. For the cyclists there is no area of ​​an administrative offense. From 1.6 per mille but there is a criminal offense.

Ascension Day is also referred to by many in Germany as Herrentag or Men's Day. It is Thursday 39 days after Easter Sunday every year. Extensive corona restrictions no longer stand in the way of the convivial Father's Day outing with handcarts and beer on Ascension Day this year. The police and ADFC are therefore expecting more traffic.

Christians have been celebrating the Ascension since the 4th century. Believers are concerned with the "raising" of Jesus into heaven. In the 16th century the custom of processions around the fields, asking for a good harvest, began. The day often ended with food and drink, dancing and singing. Later, the ecclesiastical tradition receded into the background - and the very secular activities that are known to this day developed. In Germany there were the first so-called men's games in the 19th century. Later, the name Father's Day established itself as a counterpart to Mother's Day. Today, decorated handcarts with beer are part of it when the men go out into nature.