from Lukas Breitwieser
How were speed limits in road traffic introduced? How did they develop and what technologies were used to control them? And what do horses have to do with it? We take a look at the history of a topic that continues to polarise opinion.
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Since 2025, the city of Dresden has been awarding the “Verstoß des Monats” - the “offence of the month” - for particularly serious traffic offences and publishes them on social media. In February, a vehicle travelling at almost 100 km/h in a 30 km/h zone took first place. Speed camera photo and distance-time measurement of the speed were used as evidence. The Bild newspaper feared a “Blitzpranger” - a “speed camera pillory”, while the city of Dresden hopes that the additional public attention will have a deterrent effect. And in doing so, both are picking up on a discussion that goes back a long way: The historical development of speed limits in road traffic and their monitoring shows that while controls have become increasingly precise thanks to new technologies, there have always been heated discussions about their usefulness and effect.
Speed limits are much older than the automobile: even riding horses and carriages reached considerable speeds. In many European cities, there were temporary bans on galloping (20-30 km/h). Monitoring was very reliable thanks to the three gaits of the horse - walk, trot and gallop: You could read the speed from the horse's stride, so to speak.
As road space was still multifunctional at the end of the 19th century - pedestrians and children at play naturally occupied this space - the bicycle, the first individual speed machine, was perceived as a disruption to the system. Usually faster than horses, racing cyclists were at the centre of conflicts over speed. They disrupted the traditional way of life.
At the same time, early automobiles also called the multifunctional road system into question. As in contemporary mobility debates, the focus was on the question of how public spaces should be used: should the street belong to the car or should it continue to be used as a place to play and spend time? Class conflicts arose between motorists, who were seen as nouveau riche and arrogant show-offs. The motorists saw the other side as backward hillbillies stifling technical progress.
To appease the rising conflicts, the authorities again used the horse as a yardstick: contemporary traffic regulations referred to the speed of a moderately trotting horse, which should not be exceeded. The new machines were thus supposed to fit into a familiar and tried-and-tested world of experience.
However, the determination of speeding could only be determined by the estimation of officials and ultimately could not be objectively verified. This gave rise to new conflicts between the judicial and police authorities on the one hand and motorists on the other. The police were denied the ability to make judgements due to a lack of experience with high speeds. In their self-description, motorists were elitist, tech-savvy people who had already been socialised to speed by cycling and horse riding before the automobile. This conception already implies the idea of being able to handle speed responsibly and without unfair discipline.
A more precise, verifiable method was soon used to check the pace: measurement. The technical aid of the clock was used to measure distance and time. Towards the end of the 19th century, exact maximum speeds appeared for the first time. In the years after 1900, only the measurement was legally relevant. The police now had to prove that the speed limit had been exceeded.
However, it was not only the control that was fraught with uncertainties: until 1910, when the maximum permitted speed in urban areas was set at 15 km/h, the individual states each formulated their own regulations. Travelling motorists were not necessarily aware of these. General signposting became established from 1910 - mainly thanks to the support of automobile clubs - and a system of signs set up by the authorities did not emerge until the Weimar Republic.
A so-called "Hand-Drehzahlmesser" (hand tachometer), i.e. a speedometer, which was manufactured between 1910 and 1930. Photo: Deutsches Museum Muenchen | Klaus Mosch
Until around 1900, drivers still had to refute the observations and estimates of officers and witnesses if they disputed them. And even though speedometers were initially inaccurate and tachographs were often not admitted as evidence in court, these technical aids slowly became established as vehicle equipment. However, they were not widely used until the 1920s.
Speedometers gave drivers the opportunity to get a feel for their own speed. And over time, they were used as a means of taking action against unfounded accusations. The names of the speedometers illustrate this: One speedometer with a tachograph bore the name “Protektor”, another was called “The Silent Witness”.
In the 1920s, the conflicts over speed subsided somewhat as the new and fast gained ground and became normalised. Motorised vehicles, especially two-wheelers, became increasingly widespread and began to dominate the road traffic system. The speed of motorised traffic became the new standard and speed limits were adapted to the new realities. The traffic space was increasingly converted to one-dimensional use by motor vehicles.
The speed limit in urban centres was gradually increased. In 1923 it was 30 km/h. A radical break occurred when the National Socialists came to power. The automobile was also to be promoted by reducing traffic control. Speed limits were abolished. However, this unrestricted pace only applied until 1938 due to rising accident figures and the need to save fuel resources in the course of rearmament. The 60 km/h speed limit initially in force in urban areas was nevertheless a doubling compared to the Weimar period.
In the two decades following the end of the war, motorisation in the Federal Republic of Germany experienced an enormous upswing. In 1953, a speed limit was lifted - as it had been in 1933. Paradoxically, the freedom from speed limits for private transport served as a demarcation from the totalitarian Nazi regime.
Driving without a speed limit also set the Federal Republic apart from the GDR and socialism - where the speed limit was 50 km/h in cities and 100 km/h outside built-up areas. Automobile clubs in the West contrasted unlimited driving and the new democracy of the Federal Republic with the undemocratic surveillance state with its authoritarian desire for control. However, due to the high number of accidents with around 13,000 fatalities per year, speed limits were reintroduced: initially 50 km/h in built-up areas in 1957. In the 1970s, speed limits were also introduced on rural roads.
The speed limits introduced were monitored using a new technology: radar measurement technology, a radio-based localisation and distance measurement system. Radar was used for military purposes before and during the Second World War. It was not until 1950 that radar research was authorised for civilian purposes. In 1955, the Telefunken company began developing a system consisting of a radar unit and a photo camera, the “Verkehrsradarkontrollgerät VRG 1” (traffic radar control unit). The successor model VRG 2 received approval in 1958, went into series production and was officially used for the first time in 1959. To this day, taking a photo is still the method of providing evidence in the event of a speeding offence.
However, the use of the new technology was not met with universal enthusiasm. The German magazine Der Spiegel labelled the speeding officers “Bürgerschreck” (citizen bogey). The radar control was labelled a “trap” - the term “Radarfalle” (radar trap) is still used in Germany today. The speed checks were compared to hunting methods and the metaphor of a photo safari was also used.
The permanently installed speed camera on Mauerener Weg in Böblingen was smeared with paint. The photo was taken in 2019. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 | Zonk43 on wikicommons
The effectiveness of the controls was also called into question. Scurrilous examples - e.g. a flashed bird - served as proof of the susceptibility to errors. The ADAC, i.e. the General German Automobile Club, and other lobby groups took this as their starting point and succeeded in implementing the right to a statement from speeding offenders and deducting a margin of error from the measured speed.
A new level of aggression against the “speed trap” emerged when they were permanently installed at a location and operated independently of police officers. They were covered with bullet holes, sprayed with paint, set on fire or glued together. Mobile devices were sometimes stolen from caught speeders. And this strategy even led to success: the photos were stored locally on the camera. Only since the data has been sent directly has manipulation on site been pointless.
Even if the destruction of a measuring system is now the exception rather than the rule, there is still a great deal of solidarity among motorists: Mutual flashing of warning lights, “speed camera warnings” on the radio and mobile apps are common ways of avoiding a proven speeding offence.
The basic aversion of speeding drivers to traffic controls is both historical and contemporary. Speed and modernity have been closely linked since the early days of the motor car. From the 1950s onwards, with the advent of mass motorisation, more and more people were able to participate in our everyday automotive culture in increasingly powerful vehicles.
An important model here is that of supposedly strong masculinity with unique abilities in dealing with an increasingly fast-paced world. According to the narrative, successful men were able to cope with the high speeds. A controlling intervention was accordingly perceived as arrogant or backward. This is by no means fundamentally different today, as the figures make clear: Around 80 per cent of speeding offences are still committed by men.
It remains to be seen whether assistance systems such as the Intelligent Speed Assistance systems (ISA), which recognise the applicable speed limits, which could potentially reduce speed and which have been mandatory in all newly registered vehicles in the European Union since July 2024, will reduce speeding. At present, the system only gives a warning signal, does not interfere with the speed and can simply be switched off completely every time the car is restarted. The “offence of the month” is probably not yet a thing of the past.
