North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) interior minister Ralf Jäger suggested the nationwide action at a meeting of state interior ministers on September 1st.
“Speed is the biggest killer nationwide” Jäger said at the time, referring to statistics showing that one in three deaths on the roads could be traced back to speeding.
His own state has already held six so called “Blitzmarathons” since 2010 and prompted the first nationwide version in October 2013.
On that day 15,000 officers checked three million vehicles and caught 83,000 speeders.
Germany's biggest drivers' association, ADAC, said in a statement on Monday the Blitzmarathon "can be an important contribution to improving road safety,” welcoming the visibility it offered.
But the publicity-grabbing technique has its critics.
“We can only have safer roads with more police,” GdP police union leader Oliver Malchow said in a statement on Tuesday, calling the day of action a “figleaf”.
“Only continuous traffic policing and a strong police presence on the roads will have a noticeable effect,” he added.
This year's "Blitzmarathon" will begin at 6am on Thursday and last for 24 hours.
Some states have introduced their own special twist on the event. NRW has asked children to suggest where police set up checks, while eastern states are targeting people who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs after a night out.
Here's where the police will focus in Berlin:
1) Kurfürstendamm (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf)
2) Berliner Allee (Pankow)
3) Buchholzer Straße (Pankow)
4) Heerstraße (Spandau)
5) Eichborndamm (Reinickendorf)
6) Brunsbütteler Damm (Spandau)
7) Bülowstraße (Tempelhof-Schöneberg)
8) Mariendorfer Damm (Tempelhof-Schöneberg)
9) Landsberger Allee (Lichtenberg, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg)
10) Yorckstraße (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg)
Munich
You can view the full list for Munich here
Hamburg
You can view the full list for Hamburg here
Comments