Municipalities are increasingly relying on special trailer-shaped speed cameras; from the authorities’ point of view, the so-called enforcement trailers have several advantages.
Please smile? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. Many speed offenders will stop laughing when they are photographed by an enforcement trailer. The mobile speed camera boxes with trailer hitches can be moved from a car to all possible locations in order to monitor speeds there. For up to ten days and nights at a time without any personnel costs. Newer generations of trailers also monitor traffic bans for trucks. And they are being used more and more frequently.
Backnang rents a semi-stationary measuring device
The city council in Backnang recently decided to rent such a measuring system. In the tanning town on the Murr, the speed camera trailer was tested for four and a half months and set up at 20 different locations. From the beginning of September to mid-January, 515,165 vehicles were measured. 2,893 vehicle owners received mail from the public order office because of speeding and had to pay warnings, and there were also 337 reports of intentional violations – for example because the speed limit was significantly exceeded.
The administration in Backnang came to the conclusion that the purchase of the measuring system can not only improve safety in front of schools and kindergartens, but also help to make nights generally safer and quieter for residents. “Overall, after the start of the test phase, the positive effect of the reduction in speeds driven in the city area was already noticeable.” Renting a trailer costs just under 10,000 euros per month, but one of the advantages is that it includes full service ( Replacement in the event of malfunctions and failures). Damage to property is also covered.
Fellbacher speed camera trailer sprayed with paint
And the new devices are not spared from this: an enforcement trailer in Fellbach recently became the target of destructive people. The device was sprayed with paint twice in February – the perpetrator was not flashed and the police are looking for witnesses. The speed trap has been in use in Fellbach since April 2023. 3071 exceedances were recorded by the trailer in 2023 (April to December). The amount of the fines was around 125,000 euros. “The existing device, together with a ‘classic’ mobile measuring device that is still available, currently covers the needs of the city of Fellbach,” says Sabine Laartz, spokeswoman for the city. Therefore, no further purchases are planned.
Speed measurement on Remstalstrasse in Fellbach-Schmiden. Photo: Dirk Herrmann
And Waiblingen has also been using a semi-stationary flash unit since last year. Winnenden does not have its own speed camera trailer; the administration rents the devices if necessary. Weinstadt does the same: an enforcement trailer is used there on a rental basis once or twice a year. The experiences with this are positive: “After the operation, it can be assumed that the location where the trailer was parked will be driven in a more adapted manner and traffic will therefore flow more safely,” explains Weinstadt city spokeswoman Claudia Mietenseder.
District deploys two enforcement trailers
The district itself has also been using two such devices for speed control since the end of 2023. They are in use in the communities of Alfdorf, Berglen, Großerlach, Kaisersbach, Kernen, Leutenbach, Plüderhausen, Remshalden, Rudersberg, Schwaikheim, Spiegelberg, Sulzbach/Murr, Urbach, Welzheim, Winterbach as well as in parts of Korb and Murrhardt. “Large district towns and the Backnang administrative community are themselves responsible for speed monitoring in their districts,” explains Rojda Firat, spokeswoman for the district office.
Around 100,000 euros in fines in two months
The experiences with the speed camera trailers at the previous locations are good, the demand is high: “We receive a lot of location requests from the communities and the population,” explains Rojda Firat. In the months of January and February, 2,775 procedures (warnings and fines) were initiated based on the measurements of the two enforcement trailers. This would probably mean income of 102,875 euros. The devices cost a total of 488,000 euros.
The “lightning record” of an enforcement trailer was at a measuring point in Urbach: a vehicle was measured at 70 kilometers per hour in a 30 zone. That means a fine of 260 euros, two points in Flensburg and a driving ban for one month. There are currently no plans to purchase another enforcement trailer.
The device does not get tired
The advantages of such measuring systems are obvious: they are less labor-intensive and are designed to operate independently for a week or longer. This means that the speed cameras could also be used at night and on weekends as a supplement to mobile measuring devices. In addition, focus checks are possible over several days. By using modern speed camera trailers, the district and other cities would have the opportunity to ensure greater safety in places with a high risk of accidents, in 30 zones, especially in front of schools, kindergartens and retirement homes, as well as thoroughfares with increased traffic volumes. In addition, traffic noise can also be minimized with the help of the enforcement trailers.
Additional work at the fines office
In Backnang, as the responsible road traffic authority within the agreed administrative community, we would like to use the new speed camera trailer not only in the city area, but also make it available to the eight surrounding communities. The costs could be charged proportionately depending on the frequency.
By the way, it doesn’t work without personnel costs, as can be seen in Backnang. At least with the purchase of the new measuring system, the local council decided to create a full-time position in the fines office – to process the number of cases, which will probably increase.