There, the van! Julian Kolein waves and points to the vehicle. “84,” he calls across the street. His colleagues Josef Schmid and Alexander Strahberger react immediately: one lifts the trowel, the other guides the car into a parking bay. Driver’s license, vehicle documents please. Then Strahberger explains to the driver: The man was clocked at 84 kilometers per hour instead of the permitted 70. That’s 40 euros, payable on site in cash or by card.
The driver is not happy about either option. He complains that he has to go to the doctor and is already late. Then he pays, but not without tearing up his receipt before driving on. “He was a bit upset,” said Schmid, as the driver and van rounded the next bend. Schmid, police superintendent, traffic officer at the Gauting police station since 2007, knows it: Some people get upset, others show insight. But on this Friday in particular, the driver could have known that right here, at the exit of the town on the route to Starnberg, Schmid and his colleagues were standing with the laser gun.
Because it’s no secret where the police hunt down speeders during the Bavaria-wide speed camera marathon: the measuring points are on the Internet. Ultimately, the aim of the campaign is not to collect as many fines as possible, but rather to make drivers aware of the dangers that result from driving too fast. According to Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), 125 people died on the roads in the Free State last year in traffic accidents caused by excessive speeds.
“These terrible fates could have been avoided,” explains Herrmann. “Our lightning marathon is intended to wake people up to strictly adhere to the speed limits.” Driving too fast is “one of the main causes of serious traffic accidents,” said the minister. Whether a one-off campaign is the right means for this is controversial. Not every federal state, including Berlin and Saxony, takes part in the speed camera marathon. Too much effort, too little effect, say the critics. Others, including Hesse, Thuringia and Bavaria, are convinced of the effect.
Please stop! Josef Schmid waves a driver to the side of the road on the outskirts of Gauting.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal)
Anyone who drives too fast must expect a fine and instruction from Josef Schmid (left) and Alexander Strahberger.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal)
And that’s why Schmid and his colleagues are standing in the rain in Gauting on Friday morning. The sky is just as gray as the asphalt, only the signal colors on the police officers’ jackets shine into the landscape. Car after car rushes past, the police car engine humming in the background. That’s intentional: If someone tries to escape from the checkpoint, the police won’t waste any time starting their car. The officers have positioned themselves behind hedges and signs so that they cannot be easily seen. And so someone keeps falling into their net. A black sports car, for example, which, like the white panel van, travels at 84 instead of 70 kilometers per hour.
Last year, the North Police Headquarters recorded almost 36,000 measurements during the speed camera marathon in its area of responsibility, which includes the Starnberg district and thus also the Gautinger inspection. 888 violations were identified; Relatively speaking, that’s not too much. “Most people stick to the speeds,” says Josef Schmid. Nevertheless, almost 9,000 violations were identified across Bavaria, almost 1,200 of them in Munich. The sad highlight: a driver near Freising who was traveling at 155 kilometers per hour instead of the prescribed 60.
Back to the measuring point where a Tesla driver has just set the previous daily record: 92 things instead of the permitted 70, which makes 60 euros plus fees. Because the matter has consequences for the driver. “We’re already in the advertising area,” says Schmid. That’s why the officers also give the driver a free but emphatic warning about the dangers of driving too fast. “People underestimate that,” says Schmid. Just like the other dangers in traffic: looking at your cell phone, not wearing a seat belt, all of this can have serious consequences.
“Some people drive way too slow”
Using the laser handheld measuring device, as the radar gun is correctly called, Julian Kolein can see what is going on in the driver’s cab from several hundred meters away. If someone is on their cell phone, the police will pull them out. And: The device tells him the speed of the vehicles in a matter of seconds: 69, 57, 33. Wait a minute, Mr. Kolein – is someone really driving 33 instead of the permitted 70 kilometers per hour? “Yes,” explains Kolein. “Some people also drive way too slow.” That could also be dangerous; After all, this would significantly disrupt the flow of traffic. But this cannot be punished. “There is no minimum speed.”
How many drivers the police flashed during the speed camera marathon across Bavaria will not be known until this Saturday after the action has been completed. However, there was an interim report from Gauting at midday: Six drivers stopped Schmid and his colleagues. That’s not the world, says inspection manager Andreas Ruch, commenting on the result. But the fact that anyone gets caught despite the previously published measuring points is “astonishing”. And Josef Schmid adds that a certain level of control pressure is important to encourage drivers not to drive too fast. Because the speeding violations are not always as minor as with the van.