Soest - Ulm part 4: Blast Off.. Until the Blitz Bashes!

As a car enthusiast, I have always praised the joy of driving and reluctantly refused to use any form of public transport, except taxi and planes. The fact that I am slightly an individualist makes it even clearer because unlike in all public transport, one would have to share the space with some strangers and that is a trifle less uncomfortable. That was also the reason why I prefer driving a car instead of taking a train when I moved my whole belongings from Soest to Ulm. By the by, name anything form of public transport and I will always be able to capture their drawbacks. For instance, buses are not a quick transporter because they stop too frequently to pick up passengers; trains are fast, but it gets impractical if you have big luggage to carry; ships, well forget it because it makes you feel sick by their infinite travel time; if you go to Thailand or India, tricycles are also utilized as a public transporter and that is even worse. You will arrive with your face covered with smog and dust, due to their odd ingenuity of windowless vehicle design. I genuinely believe that only taxi and planes will do well, apart from the fact that crimes of robbery are occasionally happened in taxis and planes are sometime subjected to a delay. What I want you to have in mind is that cars are by all means more comfortable and faster than other land transportation options. As I have proved in the second series of this note, driving in Europe had turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences, particularly because Germany is the land of speed addicts and driving in the fast pace has always been an amusing theme to me. Sadly, driving fast appeared to be quite intriguing, especially when something on the side of the road which emitting blitz took some photographs of you and the license plate number..

And yes, I have been caught up by speed camera and should therefore pay 30 Euro for the speeding ticket. The occurrence was very obvious because it happened in the night and the blitz was quite a bit of surprise actually. I slammed on the brake as soon as the blitz flashed, it obviously wouldn't do any good because by that time the camera had got my picture and the registration number of the car, but I would say that it was just an instantaneous response to be taken and none of a big deal at all. In the speeding ticket (Zeugenfragebogen) issued by Regierungspräsidium Kassel which is the official authority of Kassel, I was informed that I was exceeding the allowed speed limit of 80kph by up to 24kph with tolerance of 5kph at some bridge around Kassel. Truth be told, this information is a revelation because I had no idea how fast I was going at that particular time, what makes it worst is I was not even concentrating on the road. If the authority asked me to reconstruct the occurrence, I would just tell them that it was very late in the night and I nearly fell into the welcome oblivion of sleep. So, remembering the speed limit was simply just a flash act, Hm.. There was the sign post showing a maximum speed of 80kph and the next minute I simply forgot it. Anyway, I want to stress on the fact that if the picture taken could have been sharper, you will find that I was not looking at the road. Instead, I was glancing at the route map on my right hand and everything was so clearly depicted because I also switched on the cabin lamp which made the car looked like a giant firefly with wheels. Meanwhile the camera took the shot at that exactly particular moment, a speeding driver with no safety consciousness to the road because he was looking at something else while he drove along in the Autobahn. Currently, I am requesting for a proper shot of the car to the Regierungspräsidium Kassel since the picture appeared in the invoice paper was somehow a bit blurred and scaled at a microscopic value.

"If I get caught of driving by myself, the authority will sue me. Blimey!"

In Germany, speeding fines can be differentiated based on several parameters. The cost depends on whether someone is driving in a town or on an Autobahn. It also differs based on how fast one exceeds the speed limit and in case you are interested with fines, the information regarding the violation to traffic signs (Ordnungswiedrigkeit) can be checked here. Speaking of getting caught by speed camera and aside from being fined, drivers who exceed the speed limit up to 21kph will also collect some points in their license, but since I am a foreigner and I was only 19kph faster than the allowable speed limit, I still haven't got any point in my license and I am still allowed to drive. Despite this, I was warned that I am not allowed to drive alone for the next six months, that means someone must be willing to be my passenger when I get caught the next time by the speed camera, in case if I do it again. If I get caught of driving by myself, the authority will sue me. Blimey! Honestly no idea about how disastrous the pressed charge against me would be, but it sounds like a massive exaggeration and that makes it not important at all. Anyway, I would like to explain more about the point in driving license because it is presumably more interesting. So basically, The point is again differentiated based on where and how bad you have violated the rule. A license driver holder, that's how the Germans refer to drivers, is considered for an agreeable 7 points at maximum. From 8 points up to 13 points, the license holder will be sent a warning notification by the authority and he/she will be recommended to attend a seminar of safety driving or some kind of it. From 14 points to 17 points, the warning notification and the seminar become a mandatory element aside from the fine. Then here is my favorite, when you pass 18 points, you are entitled to wave goodbye to your driving license. If you want to get one again, you have to repeat the whole driving test again which is preposterously expensive and takes a long time to accomplish. It gets even worse if you drive biblically faster than the speed limit because aside from collecting points, you will also be banned for driving any cars completely for a certain period.

The picture on the left hand side shows an actual form of speed camera in Germany. You can find this exact view on Bundeslandstrasse B1 in the direction Paderborn, just outside Soest border. By all means, I would say that 30 Euro is actually not a very enormous amount of money, not if I spend it for a dinner in a fancy restaurant and order a juicy lamb steak with oregano salad dressing on it. Instead, it was spent for some speeding act which appeared not faster than a dog could run; 19kph and that made it an utter waste. However, it was still worth the experience including and the most expensive photo shoot session of my whole life, I should perhaps find a frame to display it in my bedroom and nail it dead to the wall. Anyway, I would recommend those who enjoy driving at a fast pace to drive safely and obey the local rules, mainly because speed kills. However, I would also recommend them to get someone to sit on the passenger seat and the purpose is not so that they get to chat with someone lively. Instead, tell the passenger to keep an eye to the road as well, especially to a grey post on the side of the road with lens and blitz on it, so he or preferably she could remind you when there is a speed camera ahead. And on that surprising bombshell, this preposterous case is now finished and so is the series of "Soest - Ulm" notes. I certainly hope that the similar case will not happen again when I drive all the way back to Soest in July, particularly because a wise gentleman never falls twice. Until then, enjoy!