Photo: Wikimedia/Panek CCA-SA 3.0

Sectional speed measurement on German B6 is legal. The court’s judgment opens the way to the deployment of further such systems.

You can read this article in 3 minutes

In Lower Saxony, at the turn of 2018 and 2019, a pilot system for sectional speed measurement was launched on the B6 federal road. In March, a German court questioned its legality and ordered that it be shut down. Since last Thursday, the so-called Section Control has been operating in accordance with the regulations.

It seems that this is the end of the confusion around the first German sectional speed measurement which was launched on the federal road B6 near Laatzen. In the middle of March this year, the Administrative Court in Hannover decided that there is no legal basis for a radar system that records the data of all vehicles passing through the section. This automatic way of collecting information is not in accordance with the German constitution. After this decision was challenged by the Hanover police in May this year, the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of Lower Saxony in Lüneburg upheld the decision at first instance.

In July this year, the OVG, at the request of the police, reopened the case under the legal basis in force since the end of May authorising the services to violate the rights of citizens in the event of security threats. The court then allowed the speed to be measured temporarily over a 2-kilometre section of B6 until the case was resolved. The sentence was handed down only on November 13th. According to it, the system has been fully legal since Thursday, November 14th. 

Although this method of speed control has been known in some countries for years, Section Control on B6 is the first legal system of sectional speed measurement in Germany. Boris Pistorius, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Lower Saxony, believes that “this modern technology will have a very positive impact on road safety throughout the country”.

Photo: Wikimedia/Panek CCA-SA 3.0

Tags