It is usually expensive for those who are flashed. But drivers can be warned of speed traps. There are gadgets for the car for not even 50 euros or speed camera apps. However, this has not been entirely legal up to now. A court has now made a far-reaching decision.
Who does not know it: You are in a hurry and drive just a few kilometers per hour too fast. Suddenly you drive through a bright light and know: That could be expensive. But there has long been a tool. Mobile apps that warn of speed traps. They not only know where star boxes are, but often also indicate mobile speed cameras. Using such apps is illegal. But so far there was a trick. However, a court has now ruled that this trick is also against the law and the driver must pay a fine if he is caught.
BLITZER: WHICH IS NOW NO LONGER ALLOWED
If the radio warns of speed traps, that is legally correct. However, if a driver allows himself to be warned by an app on his cell phone, this is prohibited. It’s not logical, but that’s how the law is. Paragraph 23 paragraph 1c of the Road Traffic Act prohibits drivers from using a speed camera app while driving. If you come to a police check and it turns out that you are using such a speed camera app, a fine of 75 euros will be due. There is also a point in Flensburg.
However, the threat of punishment does not seem to impress many drivers. As a Bitkom survey from last summer shows, almost half of the car drivers and motorcyclists surveyed use a speed camera app on their cell phone or a navigation device with a speed camera warning function. So far, however, it has been unclear whether the ban on such speed camera apps also applies to passengers. Because: According to the road traffic regulations, the ban on these apps only applies to the driver of a car. And while the Stiftung Warentest said last August: “It could therefore be quite permissible for the passenger to open and use a speed camera app on his cell phone,” that is now history.
COURT CONVICTS MOTORISTS AND SPEAKS PLAIN LANGUAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
In January 2022, the police stopped a driver when he was driving through Heidelberg much too quickly. The officers discovered that his passenger was using a speed camera app on her cell phone. The police initiated a procedure. The District Court of Heidelberg then imposed a fine of 100 euros. However, the man did not want to pay the fine and appealed. After all, he wasn’t the driver who used the speed camera app. The higher regional court in Karlsruhe rejected the appeal. Like the ADACreported, the court declared the sentence to be legal. The road traffic regulations not only prohibit a driver from using an app with speed camera warnings. It is also illegal to run such an app on the cell phone of another vehicle occupant. The legal uncertainty that has existed up to now has thus been eliminated.
