Traffic in Bonn Speed camera trailer is now located at the Reuterbrücke
Bonn · The radar control camera on the B 9 was moved. It no longer stands in front of the Bundeskunsthalle, where, according to the city, it has not been „busy“ often enough. The speed camera trailer is now waiting for speeders diagonally opposite at the Reuterbrücke.
The mobile speed camera trailer on the B 9 has changed sides of the road: instead of standing in front of the trajectory junction in the direction of Bad Godesberg, as before, it now stands in front of the Reuter Bridge in the direction of the city centre. The reason for this is a decision by the Accident Commission, from whose point of view there is no longer any accident site there due to excessive speed
"The municipal accident commission has recently decided that the accidents still to be recorded in the trajectory node are now due to inappropriate speed on wet roads or to collisions with waiting vehicles," says Andrea Schulte from the municipal press office.
3,596 people caught, 1.87 million Euro in revenue
The fact that the speed camera is now on the other side can be explained by the fact that there is often a crash there. "There is also an accident black spot there, which is due to speeding as the cause of accidents," says Schulte. The speed controls are now supposed to help.
Shortly after the trailer was moved, unknown persons sprayed the narrow viewing window with paint. "This happens from time to time", according to the city that rented the trailer. According to the contract, the contracted company will take care of the equipment, including cleaning and repair after vandalism. The city helps out with minor soiling, and the company is informed in the event of persistent graffiti.
The speed camera trailer has already been monitoring the drivers for some time along the B 9 near the Bundeskunsthalle: first as a test in June 2016 and then from June 2017 until the middle of last week. During this time it has flashed 93 596 times. Based on an average warning fee of 20 euros, this corresponds to income of around 1.87 million euros. Initially, it triggered up to 600 flashes a day, but this number decreased over time - motorists kept to a speed of 50 km/h. According to the city, visibility also plays a major role. One should be able to see the speed check, because then the 20 cars behind them will also drive slowly. The city does not want to put up so-called black-light cameras, where the driver cannot see the flash being triggered at the side of the road.
The administration is silent about what the rent for the speed camera trailer costs. "For contractual reasons", as they say. The total costs for stationary and mobile speed monitoring, including mobile speed cameras in cars, were recently between 900,000 and one million Euro per year. This also includes maintenance, calibration and personnel for image evaluation.
(Original text: Nicolas Ottersbach, Translation: Mareike Graepel)
