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Speed camera app on a smartphone: Prohibited even if they are running on the cell phones of passengers
Photo: Carsten Rehder/ dpa
It has been clear for a long time that the use of speed camera apps constitutes an administrative offense.
The Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court has now made it clear: What applies to the driver also applies to the other people who are traveling in the vehicle.
At least if the driver is aware that someone else has opened such an app in the car (file number 2 ORbs 35 Ss 9/23).
The proceedings involved a 64-year-old driver from the Rhein-Neckar district, against whom the district court of Heidelberg imposed a fine of 100 euros in October 2022.
Accordingly, the man had driven through Heidelberg at a significantly excessive speed in January of the same year.
According to the court, the passenger's cell phone was on the center console with an open speed camera app.
The district court concluded that the driver was aware of this fact because he "pushed it aside when he was checked by police officers for his conspicuous driving behavior." The 64-year-old had lodged a legal complaint against the fine, which is now being Karlsruhe court was dismissed.
It therefore remains at a fine of 100 euros.
The police announce checkpoints
For municipalities, speed cameras can be a lucrative source of ancillary revenue.
A survey by the Traffic Law Working Group of the German Lawyers' Association showed that in 2020 at least ten German cities had collected more than one million euros from speed camera fines.
Hamburg was the leader at the time with 17.1 million euros.
You do not necessarily have to use prohibited electronic aids such as speed camera apps or speed camera warning devices to avoid the danger of driving into one of the so-called speed traps.
In some cases, the police themselves announce when and where they will carry out mobile speed checks.
The Cologne police, for example, have set up their own website for this purpose.
However, the easiest way to avoid speeding fines is to simply stick to the speed limit.
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