Farewell to the Section Control: Data protection stops speed camera technology!

Farewell to the Section Control: Data protection stops speed camera technology!

In Germany, the innovative system of the Section Control, which celebrated great success in other European countries, is now history. On January 23, 2024, the system was switched off on Bundesstraße 6 in Lower Saxony for data protection reasons. This ends an era of virtual speed monitoring, which has been in regular operation since 2021. The record of the license plates and the determination of the average speed over a specified section were efficient in theory, but the legal requirements turned out to be too serious to continue to operate the technology.

A pilot project that started in 2018 and was carried out on a 2.2 kilometer route between Gleidingen and Laatzen in Lower Saxony should test the new possibilities of traffic surveillance. The measurements ran from December 2018 to December 2020 and led to remarkable results: the average speed of the vehicles dropped from 105 km/h to 95 km/h, and compliance with the top speed increased by an impressive 40 percent. Traffic accidents also failed to materialize on the route that was once considered dangerous, which underlined the positive effects of the system. [Chip] notes that this method is still being used successfully in other countries such as Italy and Austria.

technical and legal hurdles

The technical basis of the section control was in the recording of photos with time stamps at two points, which made it possible to assign the vehicles. However, the new legal regulation for encryption and protecting the collected data has made a stroke in the way. From the beginning of 2024, new requirements were applied that the Lower Saxony facility no longer met. Retrofitting was necessary, but the manufacturer Jenoptik had announced that it would not want to improve. [Bussgeld catalog] explains that the resulting fine notices that were issued by the end of 2023 will remain valid.

The Higher Administrative Court of Lüneburg had already affirmed the legality of the measurements in 2019, but the changes in data protection law have now led to the final setting of the system. The police have announced that they want to intensify the speed controls on the route after switching off the Section Control.

A look at Austria and other countries

The discussion about effective traffic monitoring is not just a German phenomenon. In Austria, the similar procedure will continue to be able to use and provides consequences for speed overruns in the form of organ mandates or anonymous orders. [ADAC] pointed out that positive experiences with the Section Control have been gained in other European countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands. There, the measure to monitor road traffic is estimated that many drivers adhere to the speed limits.

The unexpected suspension of the section Control in Germany once again shows how important data protection is in modern technology. While other countries use the advantages of such technology, Germany remains in the digital stone age of traffic surveillance.