Caught by a speed camera in Germany: what happens next

What the camera records

Germany uses fixed cameras, mobile units in parked vans or trailers, and handheld laser guns. All of them capture a speed reading and an image showing the number plate, the driver's face, the place, the time and the limit in force. Do not rely on a visible flash: many devices use infrared, which is hard to notice from the driver's seat, especially in daylight. And a flash you did see may have been for the car next to you. Only a letter confirms that your vehicle was measured.

The police may also run a check with officers waiting further down the road to pull you over. In that case you are stopped on the spot, asked for your licence and registration, and either offered a warning fine or told that a notice will follow. With an ordinary camera, nobody stops you and everything happens by post.

The tolerance deduction

No measuring device is perfectly accurate. Germany's national metrology institute, the PTB, sets error limits for approved speed meters of 3 km/h up to a reading of 100 km/h and 3 per cent above. Authorities subtract that margin and round down, so the driver always benefits. Brandenburg police point out that the size of the deduction depends on the measuring method, so the figure on your letter is the one that counts. For standard cameras the deduction looks like this:

For drivers with an mph speedometer, a useful rule of thumb: the deduction is worth roughly 2 mph at urban speeds and a little more on fast roads. It does not help much at the edges of the bands. If the camera read 74 km/h in a 50 zone, you are charged with 71 km/h, which is 21 km/h over, €115 and 1 point. If it read 128 km/h on a country road with a 100 limit, you are 24 km/h over: €100 and 1 point. Town and country cases are covered in detail on the pages about speeding in town and speeding outside towns.

Driver liability: why the photo matters

Unlike countries that fine the registered keeper for speeding, Germany prosecutes the person who was driving. The keeper (Halter) only pays for parking and stopping offences when the driver cannot be found, under Section 25a of the Road Traffic Act (StVG). For a speed camera there is no such rule. The authority therefore needs a front photo good enough to identify the driver. When the image is unclear, it can compare it with passport or identity card photos held by German registry offices, ask neighbours or an employer, or send officers to your door. If the driver remains unknown, the case against the driver ends.

The first letter

Expect one of two forms, both in German.

Hearing form (Anhörungsbogen)

This goes to the person the authority suspects of driving, usually the keeper. It gives the place, time, measured and charged speed and the catalogue entry, and invites you to respond. You must fill in your personal details. Whether you add anything about the offence is your decision.

Witness questionnaire (Zeugenfragebogen)

This arrives when the photo clearly shows someone other than the keeper, for example when a company owns the car or a partner was driving. The keeper is asked to name the driver as a witness. Close relatives of the driver may decline. If nobody is identified, the traffic authority can impose a logbook requirement on the keeper under Section 31a of the vehicle registration rules (StVZO), which means recording every journey for a set period.

Since 1 July 2026, the fifth amendment to the Road Traffic Act has added Section 4c StVG: deceiving the authority about who was driving, or offering or arranging such a deception, is banned outright. The new fine reaches €30,000. Offers to take your points for money fall under this rule.

Foreign plates, company cars and leased cars

The fine office finds the keeper through the number plate. For a car registered in Germany that is a quick query of the national register. For a car on plates from another EU country, EU rules on the cross-border exchange of registration data let the German authority ask the home country who the keeper is, so driving a car registered back home does not make you invisible. With company and leased cars, the firm or leasing company is asked first. Rental firms pass on the hirer's details from the contract; employers receive a witness questionnaire asking who had the car. Only then does the hearing form go to the driver, which is why letters about company cars often arrive late. If you share a pool car at work, a simple handover sheet with names and dates saves a lot of trouble.

Points and probation

A point is not created by the photo. It is entered in the Flensburg register once the fine notice becomes final, and only then does the expiry period of 30 months for one point begin. Probation works the other way round: what counts is the date of the offence. Someone flashed a week before their probationary period ends still faces the probation measures, even if the notice becomes final later. In a car, the first point comes at 21 km/h over after the deduction, which in a 50 zone means a reading of 74 km/h.

Before the letter arrives

There is nothing you are required to do after a flash, and German law has no procedure for reporting yourself. A short note of the date, time, road and driver helps if several people use the car. Weeks later, few households can say for sure who took the car out on a particular afternoon.

How long the authority has

Since 1 July 2026, the limitation period for traffic offences is 6 months from the offence under Section 26(3) StVG. Before, it was three months until a notice was issued. Certain official steps listed in Section 33 OWiG interrupt the period, including the first hearing and the notice itself, and each interruption starts it again. A letter that takes many weeks to arrive is therefore not unusual and says nothing about whether the case has lapsed.

Warning fine or formal notice

Up to €55, you are offered a warning fine (Verwarnungsgeld). Pay it within the period given, usually a week, and the matter is closed with no fee and no record. Above that amount, or if a warning fine goes unpaid, a formal fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid) follows, with costs under Section 107 OWiG: at least €25 in fees and €3.50 for delivery, so €28.50 on top of a €100 fine. The next steps, from the two-week objection period to payment and points, are set out on the page about what happens after you are caught speeding.

Your excess speed in the catalogue

Excess after tolerance

km/h

Wherein townoutside towns

Vehiclecar, motorbikelorry, bus, with trailerhazardous goods, bus with passengers

Total including fees

€143.50

Table 1, number	11.3.4
Points	1
Driving ban	none

Open the full fine calculator →

Reading the letter line by line

Everything you need to check the amount is on the form: the limit, the measured speed, the tolerance, the charged speed, whether the place counts as in town or outside, and your vehicle type. If the charged figure equals the reading minus the deduction above, and the catalogue entry matches your vehicle, the fine follows directly from the table. The fine calculator repeats that calculation with fees, points and any ban.