Controversial helpers
What you should know about speed camera warnings
Anyone who drives too fast and gets caught has to pay a fine. Some drivers therefore use apps or devices that are intended to warn of a speed trap. But be careful – in most cases its use is prohibited.
Updated on December 16, 2024 – 2:42 p.m|Reading time: 3 min.
A brief moment of inattention is enough: if you look at the radio instead of the speedometer needle, or if you simply miss a sign, it can flash red briefly in the next moment.
Measuring stations for speed monitoring, as speed cameras are called in official German, are merciless. They do not distinguish between speeders and those who actually always drive in an appropriate manner, but were perhaps distracted or inattentive for a moment. Any speeding violation will be punished.
Be that as it may, there are drivers who try to protect themselves from speed cameras with technical help. Either so-called speed camera warning devices or speed camera apps for smartphones are used.
Small warning devices cost little more than 50 euros online. Peter Schmitz from the computer magazine “c’t” differentiates between jamming devices and warning devices based on detectors and GPS-based devices with a database. “The jammers prevent a valid measurement by disrupting the radar measurement signals,” explains Schmitz. Detectors react to the waves from radar or lidar measuring devices, but would also occasionally malfunction near pasture fences and in front of railway crossings.
“The simpler and most common devices today, on the other hand, only work on the basis of GPS position detection and access a database of speed camera locations,” says Schmitz. There are also combination devices that combine wave detectors and position detection. Even if the purchase and ownership of the devices are permitted in Germany, one thing is certain for the expert: they may not be operated while driving.
Speed camera apps for smartphones or for the built-in car navigation system are particularly popular today, says Schmitz. “Downloading and installing apps like Blitzer.de, Radarbot or Waze is legal.” Like simple GPS warning devices, the apps determine the vehicle position via GPS, access a coordinate database on the Internet and warn of known speed camera locations.
“Of course they have to be entered in the database,” says Schmitz. In Germany, around 4,500 stationary speed monitoring systems measure traffic. There are also mobile stations and radar guns for police checks.
Drivers can use such apps to look at their route before, and only then, the journey and note any speed cameras, explains Peter Schmitz. “This is legal and permitted.”
It’s different here when you’re on the road: “Drivers are not allowed to use warning apps on their smartphones or speed camera warning devices while driving,” says Uwe Lenhart, a specialist lawyer for criminal and traffic law in Frankfurt am Main. According to Section 23 of the Road Traffic Act (StVO), a vehicle driver is not allowed to operate or carry any technical device that is intended to display or disrupt traffic monitoring measures. This also applies to passengers, as the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court (AZ 2 ORbs 35 Ss 9/23) has decided.
“A warning app that has already been installed may be saved on the smartphone, but not ready for use,” explains Lenhart. In the case of a traffic control, operational means that the app is active. The Celle Higher Regional Court, for example, ruled in 2015 that the ban is met “if a vehicle driver carries a mobile phone with him, ready for use, on which a speed camera app is installed and this app is called up while driving.”
A violation is punished with a fine of 75 euros and one point in Flensburg. If the driver has the cell phone in his hand or if a police officer saw it there shortly beforehand, it will be more expensive because holding smartphones in the hand while driving is generally taboo. In this case, the offense is punished with a fine of 100 euros and one point in Flensburg.
When it comes to a police check, the following applies: “Drivers should keep calm and remain friendly; this usually shortens the procedure,” advises traffic lawyer Lenhart. “They should also talk as little as possible and only as much as necessary. If they are made a specific accusation, they should not comment on the matter, but only provide their personal details.”