Are speed camera detectors allowed in Germany?

This article is dated as shown. Laws, fees and prices have changed since then. Check the figures before you rely on them.

Speed camera detectors

These days a mobile phone is used for far more than phone calls or text messages. Modern phones serve many purposes. You can browse the internet or install all kinds of apps. Play games or be warned about a speed camera. In the AppStore you can download an app that warns you about speed cameras on the road, but is such a camera app allowed, and should you expect a fine if it was switched on while driving?

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The driver denies using the app!

A driver was travelling in his car in the middle of the night. His smartphone was mounted on the windscreen. During a check, the police officers noted that the Blitzer app (a speed camera detector) was installed on the phone and was in use at the time of the check.

The driver was then sentenced by the district court (AG) to a fine of 75 euros and 1 point for breaching the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) by using a speed camera detector. However, the driver denied having used the app at the time of the offence. Moreover, he argued that the rule did not apply in this case, because a mobile phone, unlike a radar warning device, for example, is simply not designed to indicate speed cameras. He therefore appealed against the court's decision.

A mobile phone as a “speed camera detector”?

Under § 23 StVO, the driver of a vehicle may not carry or operate a technical device designed to indicate speed traps and cameras.

Even smartphones can fall under this rule, namely when the phone's owner installs and uses the Blitzer app or other apps that warn them about speed traps or surveillance cameras on the road.

There are 3 ways to use a speed camera detector

• Buy a speed camera detector device.
• Install a dedicated app on your phone.
• Use the speed camera alerts in your sat nav or navigation app.

A driver who has installed a camera app that warns about cameras and speed traps and uses the speed camera detector app while driving, or even just has it activated on the phone, is breaking the law.

In the case above, the police clearly saw that the camera app was installed and activated on the driver's smartphone. That alone broke the law. So he had to pay a fine of 75 euros and got 1 point in Flensburg.

Interestingly, when you visit the official fine calculator website, you are offered a comparison of speed camera detectors, and you can buy them via the link (nobody has banned buying them, so feel free to buy one, but you are not allowed to use it).

If you want to know where the speed cameras are on the road, you can use the radio. Radio stations often announce where the speed cameras are. But for that you need to understand German and know the name of the road where the camera is, otherwise this information will be useless to you.

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