German motorists take speed warning to heart

During the sixth German ‘blitz’ marathon speed control operation, motorists have by and large obeyed speed limits.  After the end of large-scale speed control actions in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, Interior Minister Ralf Jäger said: "Motorists have taken the ‘I have respect for life’ motto to heart and are driving responsibly. That is our goal. We are adhering to our strategy of more speed checks and more transparency. In the autumn there will be another federal-wide ‘blitz’ flash- Marathon."

Around 3,500 police officers, as well as 300 employees of local authorities, measured the speeds of vehicles over a period of 24 hours at 2,610 locations. Despite publication of the speed check points and the extensive coverage in the media across the country, 21,600 of the approximately 788,000 car drivers checked were driving too fast. This makes 2.7 percent...