Temporary Swiss speed camera catches one speeder every 4 minutes
By Jan de Boer
While most drivers in Switzerland acknowledge that speed cameras, if not well-liked, serve a purpose in reducing the severity and frequency of road accidents, it doesn’t help their public image when they appear out of nowhere and make the police a pretty penny in the process. That was exactly the case for one mobile “tin policeman” in Zurich that managed to catch a speeding driver every four minutes.
Mobile speed camera installed in Zurich after parents complain
Our story starts, according to 20 Minuten, after parents at a Kindergarten in Albisreiden, Canton Zurich complained that drivers were “pressing on the gas” outside their school, despite the 30-kilometre-an-hour speed limit. To help, the Traffic Department of Zurich decided to instal a temporary speed camera in an attempt to enforce the rules. In the end, the results were quite something.
Soon after the camera was installed, drivers reported “speed camera madness” on the road in question. After just over one week of operation, the authorities confirmed that they managed to catch and fine 2.400 drivers going above the speed limit - 350 people were caught in the first 24 hours alone. This means that, on average, a driver was caught speeding by the camera every four minutes.
Zurich speed camera earnt police more than 96.800 francs in a week
20 Minuten predicted that, assuming that every driver broke the speed limit by between one and five km / h and got a 40 franc fine as a result, the emergency services earnt 96.400 Swiss francs in a week. If it is assumed that the average person broke the limit by between six and eight kilometres an hour, earning a 120 franc fine in the process, the camera may have earnt upwards of 288.000 francs in one week - or around 28 francs a minute.
According to Zurich city police spokesperson Pascal Siegenthaler, the camera has now been removed as mobile units are only in place for one to two weeks or "until the desired effect is achieved - that is, until the majority sticks to the speed limits.” When asked whether this especially profitable camera will be set up again, he concluded that they "are constantly assessing the situation, it may well be that it will return."
Image: Shutterstock.com / Taljat David
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more