As of: March 2, 2024, 3:17 p.m
By: Marcus Giebel
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It flashes and flashes and flashes: The speed trap on the B148 in Elling quickly proved its worth.
© IMAGO / Daniel Scharinger
The B148 in Upper Austria has had a speed camera since March 2023.
The device ensures that the cash register rings on the “death route”.
Elling/Austria – Stationary radar devices have a major disadvantage compared to their mobile counterparts: They completely lack the element of surprise.
This means that the (high-speed) driver who knows the area or is equipped with a speed camera app knows when to take their foot off the accelerator to avoid taking an unpleasant souvenir photo.
Speed cameras in Upper Austria: There are also many Germans among the 19,000 sinners
However, it can obviously take quite a while before word of a new speed trap like this gets around.
As the Austrian portal
meine.at
reports, a device in Upper Austria that was only put into operation at the end of March 2023 has already caught an incredible 18,792 speeders in the act in the first ten months of its existence.
That's more than 60 per day.
The speed camera did real piecework and made the state coffers ring.
It was set up in the Elling district in the municipality of Weng am Innkreis near the border with Germany.
Remarkable: Only 4,182 of the drivers caught were Austrians; most of the fines went to Germany, although the exact number is not revealed.
However, 11,937 fines were paid by foreign drivers.
In 2,673 cases the proceedings had to be stopped because the traffic offenders come from countries that do not have an agreement with Austria and therefore do not help with criminal investigations.
Video: This city has the most speed cameras - the speed camera ranking
Speed cameras in Austria get away with no punishment: Politicians want to keep the vehicle as a deposit
Understandably, State Councilor Günther Steinkellner doesn't like that at all.
“Everyone is equal in front of the radar.
Anyone who drives too fast will be flashed," emphasizes the FPÖ politician on the portal and explains what he has in mind to ultimately punish all speeders who are flashed: "If a foreign driver is caught on Austrian soil and there are numerous unpaid fines, Retaining the vehicle as a deposit would be an effective and conceivable means.”
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But back to the particularly hard-working radar device, which will celebrate its one-year anniversary in a few weeks and has already brought the authorities 1,606,242 euros in revenue despite the speeders getting away with impunity.
The speed limit is 70 km/h on the section of the B148.
Many drivers would find it difficult to reach this maximum speed because they are coming off the motorway.
20,000 vehicles are expected to use this federal highway every day, 4,000 of which are truck drivers.
“It’s massively dangerous and massively loud,” complains Manfred Rosner, spokesman for the “Lebensraum B148” association.
The route, which is also used by cyclists and tractors, should be completely free of intersections in the future.
It is therefore considered one of the most important east-west connections and, according to
nachrichten.at
, the fastest route from Linz to Bavaria's capital due to the slow expansion of the A94 in Germany between Munich and Pocking.
The police are present: there is almost always a lot going on on the B148.
© IMAGO / Daniel Scharinger
Speed cameras are on the “death route” in Upper Austria: Accidents continue to occur with serious consequences
Rosner already told the
Kronen Zeitung
about the installation of the speed camera: “Unfortunately, the B148 has degenerated into an international transit route.” It is not possible to pass it safely.
The tabloid even speaks of a “death stretch”.
In December 2021 alone, four people died in accidents on the B148 in the Braunau district.
A father of three died in March 2023, and a Hungarian man did not survive a head-on collision on Pentecost 2023.
Just a few weeks ago, the case of a pedestrian who was seriously injured after a collision with a vehicle, said to be a German living in Braunau, caused a stir and shook heads.
One of the first responders complained via Facebook that not only had the other party fled, but that many other drivers had also rushed past in the dark, some of whom had previously given him lights that he should drive with increased attention.
Before him, only a Slovenian was on site and looked after the injured man.
From the perspective of the “Lebensraum B148” association, the previous measures, including the speed camera, do not go far enough because of such cases.
Rosner & Co. fight for speed limits and overtaking bans.
Germany's record speed camera is on the B304, and the mayor there has commented on the windfall.
There are excuses that drivers can use to avoid a fine.
Mobile speed cameras are now also used in Austria.
(mg)