In order to put speeders in their place, there will be more flashing across Europe this week. In Germany the campaign is a patchwork because not all federal states are convinced of its effect.
Only five federal states are taking part in the week of action against excessive speed that begins today and ends on Friday with a focus day and particularly intensive controls. When it comes to implementing the Europe-wide campaign, Germany is a patchwork quilt, as a survey by the dpa news agency among interior authorities and state police showed. Not everyone is convinced of the effectiveness of the increased controls.
Only in Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Hamburg and Baden-Württemberg will the full program of action week and focus day be taken part. In contrast, Berlin, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Saxony are not participating at all.
Thuringia, Bavaria and Brandenburg are taking part in the speed camera marathon planned for Friday. Only Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein take part in the so-called Speedweek.
Driving too fast is one of the most common causes of accidents
With the campaign, which is also taking place in other European countries, the police want to draw attention to the problem of excessive speed. Pressure should be exerted on speeders through additional controls. Excessive speed is one of the most common causes of accidents.
But whether such actions promise success is controversial. In Berlin, for example, people argue that the effects of previous actions were hardly measurable and were limited to individual days. It is therefore better to rely on year-round control pressure.
Proponents of the campaign, on the other hand, rely on increased attention to the topic and the educational effect of the controls. The ADAC traffic club also expressed itself positively: Campaigns such as the speed camera marathon made a contribution to road safety because road users became aware of the dangers of driving too fast. In individual countries, most of the speed cameras that will be set up during the marathon on Friday will be announced in advance.
Police union: Effort is justified
The action means more work for the police, but the effort is justified, says Michael Mertens from the police union. If the topic is discussed on the day of the speed camera marathon and it comes to people’s minds, then it is a good day for road safety. Actually, more controls are needed all year round because otherwise discipline would suffer.