9 September 2011
Austrian authorities’ attempt to crack down on foreign speeders has turned into a fiasco.
State-owned road management company Asfinag ordered eight high-tech radar traps from Siemens more than two years ago. The German technology company’s models – costing 120,000 Euros each – were meant to be placed at speeding hotspots across Austria. The radar traps were developed to snap offenders from the front to clearly identify the person behind the wheel.
Asfinag, police and political decision-makers felt urged to make this investment to slash the number of speeding offences by people from abroad in the country. Older radar traps in operation across Austria photograph cars breaching speed limits from behind as domestic law says it is sufficient to get the licence plate numbers of these vehicles.
The new speed cameras manufactured by Siemens were reportedly ready for use only in mid-2010 before they were taken down again. Austrian road officials and juridical experts agreed the images the devices took where too blurred to prosecute foreign speeders.
Bosses of Asfinag – which has debts of 12 billion Euros – were recently shattered by Siemens chief’s decision to pull out of the cooperation completely. Austrian papers disclose today (Fri) that Jenoptik, a rival of Siemens, was asked by Asfinag to deliver 12 of their front capture radar cameras. The Asfinag board argued they initially opted for Siemens as the company vowed to deliver the same quality at lower prices. All of the recently ordered speed cameras produced by Jenoptik, a company based in the German city of Jena, will have been set up along Austrian highways by the end of this month, according to Asfinag managers.
ÖAMTC, Austria’s biggest association of motorists, announced yesterday decision-makers made themselves a "laughing stock." The car club claimed the Republic of Austria missed out on millions of Euros of traffic fines due to officials’ incompetence.
Around 4.16 million drivers were fined for speeding last year, up by 0.6 per cent from 2009. More than 37,500 motorists were fined or reported to prosecutors for drink-driving at the same time (2009: 41,100). The number of traffic fatalities declined by 81 from 2009 to 2010 to an historic low of 552 deaths.
Source: Austrian Times.
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