# Germany: If you don't pay your TV license fee, the government will deflate your car tire **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612 "2015-10-14T07:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/41 "2015-10-15T03:09:52Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Deflating the tire after the car is moving, who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humor? > Sounds like a device that if a person put on someones car as a joke they would find themselves in a great deal of trouble. > What do they do if you don’t have a car? Follow you around until they get a chance to push you down some stairs? Seriously. Putting a boot on the wheel I can sort of see. It doesn’t make sense in the case of an non car related tax, but it makes the point without damage or danger. But disabling the car once it’s in motion? That’s a danger to the occupants as well as others on the road. Even if the car stops harmlessly it may block traffic, maybe in the middle of a busy intersection or something. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/42 "2015-10-15T03:11:28Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > There are waivers for welfare recipients. But you have to prove it. You also don’t have to pay the license fee if you are (a) blind **and** (b) deaf, but you have to prove that as well (again, I’m not kidding). They prove it by making them walk across the autobahn at rush hour. If they make it, obviously they weren’t blind. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/43 "2015-10-15T03:15:36Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > In Britain it means BBC channels have no commercials at all. ( And thus theoretically, no beholding to commercial interests. ) > > Whether this is worth the tax, or whether BBC programmes are worth watching or listening to, are separate. > And whilst I would object to paying such a tax ( which I avoid by not having a television set ) I don’t see much difference in paying a compulsory tax to the government to watch TV, or paying large compulsory sums to a private entity for cable, etc., or paying many compulsory small sums to advertisers every day that are extraneously subsumed in the price of their goods to pay for that advertising that supports commercial programming. Thinking about it, I suppose it could be argued that Britians TV tax makes more sense than in the US where PBS funding (what little it still gets from the government) comes from general tax revenue, which you pay into whether you have a TV or not (or ever watch PBS). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/44 "2015-10-15T03:16:18Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Even if the car stops harmlessly it may block traffic, maybe in the middle of a busy intersection or something. Kind of like the malware that locks your computer and you have to pay a ransom to get the unlock code. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/45 "2015-10-15T09:55:06Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > My Wife and I spent 3 weeks in Germany. Wonderful people. Everyone was very kind… Including the 5,000 people whose job is to rat out their neighbors for having a TV? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/46 "2015-10-15T11:15:30Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Including the 5,000 people whose job is to rat out their neighbors for having a TV? The British government employs the same ( in the old days with fairly fictional detector vans that could tell what channel one was watching and whether one had a TV even if off ) a Television Detection Unit. The BBC runs the Licensing Authority. They are paid to harass people who don’t pay and take them to court in the last event. 100s of people are jailed for not paying the fine imposed as a result of not paying the licence fee. It’s the most common cause of women in prison. Socialistic Scotland doesn’t send people to jail; neighbouring Ireland does, for not having the RTE licence. Danmark has the most vigorous definition of what constitutes a TV including computers and some cell-phones. However, America has a long tradition of good people willing to squeal on their neighbours for reward or for free, not to mention in the past local committees dedicated to ensuring one does the right thing, and the fact the US federal government spies on it’s citizens as a matter of course; more so than most countries, and certainly more than in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/47 "2015-10-15T11:57:49Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Doesn’t the UK have the same thing? > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think you don’t pay it if you don’t have a television set. Correct. It was the same setup when I was in Basel: no TV, no fee. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/48 "2015-10-15T12:27:56Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > For goodness sake, Forchheim makes the news for _this_? It’s a fine little town with a nice summer festival (Annafest) and a lovely old church… Wear the fox hat? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/49 "2015-10-15T12:59:11Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > … neighbouring Ireland does, for not having the RTE licence. Danmark has the most vigorous definition of what constitutes a TV including computers and some cell-phones. Update: Ireland, under the wise guidance of it’s esteemed Communications minister, Mr. Pat Rabbitte, is moving to a universal tax this year, unconnected to whether one has a television or not. - THE number of people jailed for not paying their television licence surged to 411 last year. The figure represents a 34pc increase on 2012 when 272 people were jailed and continues a trend of year-on-year increases in those who have served time over the offence. Some 183 offenders were jailed in 2011, while 152 were jailed in 2010 and 75 in 2009. To illustrate this point they said that on February 28 2014 nine people or 0.22pc out of a total of 4,086 in the Irish prison system were in custody for non-payment of fines.\* [**Independent.ie**](http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/411-people-jailed-last-year-for-not-paying-their-tv-licence-30235625.html) The oddest takeaway is that Ireland only has 4000 in [**prison**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_Ireland)… Britain has far higher rates of coercion, 50% more, although that’s only one fifth of the American rate. Ireland = 82/100k ; Britain = 148/100k; USA = 743/100k ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/50 "2015-10-15T14:55:23Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > 100s of people are jailed for not paying the fine imposed as a result of not paying the licence fee. I have a first draft for a scene of my new prison movie: \*High security prison. Prison yard. A group of mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoners standing together. Bank robbers, mob enforcers, chainsaw killers. Tattoos all over their bodies and faces: swastikas, skulls, barbed wire. All of a sudden: movement. A bespectacled, scrawny young man enters the prison yard. The mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoners stop talking. They look concerned. Mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoner #1: “Who is that? What is he in for?” Mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoner #2: “That’s Bill from Croydon. Hasn’t payed his license fee since 2009.” Mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoner #3: “Oh my God!” Mean looking, heavy set, muscled prisoner #4: “This is sick! What animal would do such a thing?”\* ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/51 "2015-10-15T14:57:13Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > The British government employs the same ( in the old days with fairly fictional detector vans that could tell what channel one was watching and whether one had a TV even if off ) a Television Detection Unit. I thought it was a Cat Detector Van. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/52 "2015-10-15T18:36:36Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > But disabling the car once it’s in motion? That’s a danger to the occupants as well as others on the road. Even if the car stops harmlessly it may block traffic, maybe in the middle of a busy intersection or something. Yeah, seriously I don’t really get the “in motion” part. Why not just have the device let all the air out immediately and prevent the driver from putting more in? Presumably somebody has to come around and remove the locks once you pay up; why not just give them an air compressor so they can refill the tires too? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/53 "2015-10-15T18:47:11Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Yeah, seriously I don’t really get the “in motion” part. Why not just have the device let all the air out immediately and prevent the driver from putting more in? Presumably somebody has to come around and remove the locks once you pay up; why not just give them an air compressor so they can refill the tires too? I presume they wish to inconvenience the person as much as they can. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/54 "2015-10-16T22:52:57Z")
Sounds like the worst thing Germany has ever done. No, wait, they also made David Hasslehoff a successful singer. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/55 "2015-10-16T23:26:29Z")
The whole TV license fee pisses me off so much. I don’t own a TV, nor a radio, nor do I ever visit the websites of any German media outlets ever. And I live alone. It makes absolutely no sense to me. This is a country where your fucking health care premiums are based on income (as long as you’re in the state system), but they couldn’t figure out a more fair way to charge for TV? Can a German who understands the system please explain to me the logic behind this? Does the majority of the German population find this sensible? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/56 "2015-10-17T01:22:24Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > No, wait, they also made David Hasslehoff a successful singer. Dear G-d. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/57 "2015-10-17T10:45:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I thought it was a Cat Detector Van. Quick! Hide Eric. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612/58 "2015-10-17T12:39:31Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Sounds like the worst thing Germany has ever done. > > No, wait, they also made David Hasslehoff a successful singer. _Limbo cool, limbo fine Ev’rybody gets a chance Come on and move your body down Do the limbo dance Limbo cool, limbo fine Ev’rybody gets a chance Clap your hands it’s party time Do the limbo dance_ → [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeX\_vp2O\_Ns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeX_vp2O_Ns) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germany-if-you-dont-pay-your-tv-license-fee-the-government-will-deflate-your-car-tire/734612.md?page=2)