(Berlin) – On April 21st, the annual speed camera marathon will start in numerous German federal states. The German Lawyers’ Association (DAV) criticizes the “speed camera day” – instead of increasing road safety, it serves to increase municipal income.
“The purpose of official traffic monitoring must be traffic safety, not increasing the revenue of the municipalities,” warns lawyer Swen Walentowski, head of media at the DAV. The speed camera marathon does not do justice to this goal. Instead of measuring speeds at accident black spots, senior citizens’ facilities, day-care centers or schools, as would be required by the legislature, many speed traps are set up where the highest possible income can be achieved. “The authorities should protect the citizens – instead, actions like this are taking money out of their pockets.”
Exceeding the speed limit is only responsible for a comparatively small proportion of accidents caused by driving too fast. “A significantly more frequent cause of accidents is driving at an inappropriate speed. In most cases, however, this is within the limits of the speed limit,” explains Walentowski. Drivers would have to adapt their driving behavior to external circumstances such as fog, rain and ice, but also to their personal abilities or the vehicle load. However, this cannot be controlled by a speed camera.
“The increased installation of speed cameras on a few days a year does not create any sustainable added value for traffic safety,” says the lawyer. Instead, the income would be used to plug financial gaps in municipal budgets. The AG Verkehrsrecht in the DAV identified at least eleven cities in Germany that recorded income from speed cameras in the millions in 2021.
Source and contact address:
German Lawyers Association (DAV) press office Littenstr. 11, 10179 Berlin Telephone: (030) 7261520, Fax: (030) 726152190
(jg)
