After incident in Upper Austria

Drunk driving by politicians and its consequences

The mayor crashed into a tree during his escape.

(Bild: FF Klam)

He got behind the wheel of his car under the influence of alcohol, fled from the police and crashed into a tree. This was the spectacular end to the political career of a mayor in Upper Austria. But such incidents are not uncommon, as a look at the archives shows.

The mayor of the municipality of Baumgartenberg (Perg district), Gerhard Fornwagner (ÖVP), was due to be subjected to a traffic check by the police in Saxen at 11.16 pm on Thursday. But the politician accelerated instead. After a mile-long chase, the escape ended at a tree. Fornwagner was injured.

While still in hospital, the local leader announced his resignation and apologized. "I can only explain my reaction to being stopped by the police and the subsequent traffic accident as a blackout caused by the enormous mental stress of the last few days due to the ongoing fire department operations as a result of the flooding," he explained.

Hitting a car with a blood alcohol level of 1.86
However, politicians who become "conspicuous" when drunk on the roads do not always react by resigning. In Rainbach im Innkreis in November 2023, an ÖVP politician crashed into a car with an incredible 1.86 per mille and then allegedly drove home (which he denies). He did not give up his position as deputy mayor.

In his home municipality of St. Georgen am Walde, Mayor Heinrich Haider (SPÖ) drove into a ditch in May 2022 - with a blood alcohol level of 1.78. In addition to a fine of 1760 euros, he was also disqualified from driving for a period of eight months. He remained head of the village.

Accident with scooter and re-election
With a scooter and a blood alcohol level of 1.82, Katsdorf's VP mayor Wolfgang Greil crashed heavily in May 2022. In addition to the painful injuries, he also had to deal with a criminal complaint. The incident did him no harm, and shortly afterwards he was elected local party chairman with 100% of the vote.

But there are also politicians who drew the consequences. In October 2020, Christian Makor, then SPÖ party leader in the provincial parliament, drove into another car in an underground parking garage. Makor resigned.

A very special case, however, is the ÖVP young politician who was caught drunk twice (2015 and 2018). After the second drink-driving incident, Gerald Weilbuchner resigned from his seat in the state parliament after just one year.