Motorcyclists allegedly cannot be flashed. This claim is common but not true. There is one significant caveat, however.
In summer, the police headquarters in Freiburg carry out checks on popular motorcycle routes in the Black Forest at weekends. The police pull out drivers who are too fast and immediately impose a fine. So there is no free ticket for motorcyclists. According to the Freiburg Presidium, there were 76 such controls in 2022. There is a second way to punish motorcyclists, says spokesman Thomas Batzel. The traffic service uses video vehicles, officials film vehicles from behind over a certain route. According to the spokesman, the mobile systems and the enforcement trailer (speed camera trailer), on the other hand, only flash from the front, the license plate cannot be seen in the photo.
The speed on the routes in the Black Forest is also monitored by the districts. They don’t just rely on stationary systems. There are ten in the Lörrach district. The circle also uses two mobile plants and the semi-stationary plant (pictured above). The latter flashes from the front and back 24/7 in one place for days. But: “Even with double image recording, the problem of identifying the driver remains, since this is usually not recognizable through the visor,” writes Thorben Pahl, press spokesman for the Lörrach district office. In Germany, unlike in Switzerland, for example, driver liability applies, not owner liability. In a motorcycle photo, it is usually not clear who was driving. The owner can deny it.
According to the district office, the Waldshut district uses a service provider to use speed cameras – only mobile and semi-stationary – that flash and capture the motorcycle from behind. Like Lörrach, Waldshut considers police detention checks to be the most appropriate means. “But also for the most elaborate.”
The Ortenaukreis has three stationary, two mobile and one semi-stationary facility. The office also uses speed cameras that can measure motorcycles. However, the authority does not want to give any precise information on the technical details of the speed cameras.
The district of Emmendingen relies on stationary and mobile systems that can also record motorcyclists, writes the district office. Five stationary and two mobile systems are in use.
According to the district office, the four mobile systems in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district can flash motorcycles, but the two stationary columns cannot. Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald will be the only district to invest in speed cameras this year, three stationary ones will go into operation in 2023 and two more in 2024. Noise cameras, as there are in France, are not yet an issue in southern Baden. From the end of May to the end of July, the first system was installed as part of a research project in Germany on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm. According to an interim report by the Senate, motorcycles made up the majority of overly loud vehicles by early July – 53 percent. They were traveling with more than 82 decibels. Fines were not distributed.
By the way: No district keeps statistics on how many motorcycles are flashed, and the police do not break down the violations by vehicle type. In 2022, the Presidium punished around 65,200 speed violations, and in 2021 it was almost 114,000. According to the Presidium, the speed camera trailer – which triggers particularly often – failed for around five months last year.
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