The Autobahnpolizei - German autobahn police

The Highway Patrol - Autobahnpolizei

An online supplement to the books
When in Germany and The German Way
by Hyde Flippo

Die Autobahn: Part 1 > Part 2 > Autobahnpolizei

Achtung! (Watch out!)

Germany's “highway patrol“—otherwise known as the Autobahnpolizei—is usually less visible than the U.S. version, but in a way you may never have suspected.

One of the weapons in their arsenal is the “automated police officer.” Along certain stretches of autobahn or highway (Bundesstraße), usually in high-traffic areas, special radar-linked police cameras are stationed over the roadway ready to take a revealing snapshot of you and your car at any time of the day or night. Displayed prominently in this special photograph, besides you and your car, is a record of your speed, the date, the time, and the location. You won't even know what happened until your photographic speeding ticket arrives in the mail a few days later. Although some have tried, these incriminating photos are difficult to fight, and German courts have ruled that the “camera police” are perfectly legal. The photographic police are also located at city intersections to catch drivers who run red lights.

Some German drivers were finding these photos incriminating in another way: their spouses were less than happy when, in the radar-trap photo, they saw someone else sitting next to their partner, someone of the opposite sex who was not supposed to be there. To avoid a higher German divorce rate, the police have ceased sending the actual photos to the offender's home. Now when the traffic ticket arrives in the mail, the person caught in the act has to go down to the police station to view the traffic photo and protest the charges.

The Swiss are no dummies

Although he looks very real at 70 mph, the "flagman" on this Swiss autobahn is an untiring mechanical mannequin, waving his flag 24 hours a day (illuminated at night).

The Swiss have invented another form of automatic traffic control. Although he can't give you a ticket, he can certainly give you a start! Motorists at first think they're being flagged to slow down at construction sites. Only when they pass close by the motorized dummy do they finally realize they've been fooled. Even after you know the trick, these mechanical flagmen, dressed in bright neon orange, still manage to get your attention with a constantly waving arm.

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