Speeding down the autobahn with Germany's highway patrol
Putting the pedal to the metal on Germany's famous autobahn: a dream come true or a nightmare? DW's Euromaxx goes on patrol with the highway police.
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00:0025 from 21. Should we help you bring the traffic to a stop? Understood.
00:09Are you guys ready?
00:19It's worse in the back than in the front.
00:22Normally I do everything to avoid the police, but today I'm riding along.
00:31Did you know that the German Autobahn has its own police force?
00:35Thomann Hartung, seen here on the left, and Alex Latendorf work as Autobahn police officers.
00:41They monitor traffic on a 220 km stretch of highway in the German state of Hessen.
00:46And this is the car they use, a BMW 530 diesel with 265 horsepower.
00:53They also carry guns and wear bulletproof vests.
00:57We are now on a mission to find out what's happening.
01:01Apparently there's an accident on the highway.
01:04We drive through what the Germans call a Rettungsgasse, or a special emergency lane made by drivers on the Autobahn.
01:11Luckily, only cars were totaled. Remarkably, the drivers had only minor injuries.
01:16Can we be of help?
01:18No, not really. Traffic was getting heavy. Everyone braked, one person didn't.
01:22Okay.
01:23What's your mission on the Autobahn?
01:27As highway officers, we're mainly responsible for handling traffic accidents.
01:32Of course we also check vehicles.
01:35We check whether the drivers have the necessary licenses, whether they've been drinking alcohol, or may have taken drugs.
01:45Among the international traffic is a truck from Poland, which attracts the officers' attention.
01:50They quickly react to remove it from the road and bring it to a spot where routine vehicle checks are taking place.
02:02After reviewing the drivers' papers, checking his freight, and conducting a urine test,
02:07it turns out that he was indeed in violation of a few traffic laws.
02:11He hasn't recorded his driving and rest times.
02:14He also doesn't have notes on where he started or where he stopped, his mileage, and so on.
02:18We can't track his movements. That's a pretty serious infraction when it comes to transporting freight.
02:25A potentially costly mistake for this truck driver.
02:29As Tillman already told us, one of their main jobs is to check drivers for alcohol consumption.
02:36I have some German schnapps now that I'm just going to put in my mouth and swirl around and see if it makes any difference.
02:49Surprisingly, it does make a difference, so the tests continue.
02:55I didn't drink anything. What's happening?
02:59In Germany, for drivers under 21, there is a zero alcohol tolerance policy.
03:04After that, drivers with a blood alcohol level from 0.5 are considered unfit for the road.
03:11So that looks fine. Nothing suspicious here for right now.
03:14Back on the highway, we're heading out on the next mission, and once again, very fast.
03:20They don't drive at these speeds in the U.S., do they?
03:25We reach 219 kilometers per hour. That's 136 miles per hour.
03:30I feel bad for the people that are trying to get out of the way.
03:36There's debris on the autobahn. Officer Hartmann says it's a good sign.
03:41There's debris on the autobahn. Officer Hartmann performs a maneuver to stop the traffic behind us so his partner can remove it safely.
03:59So, as police officers and as fast drivers, are you for or against a general speed limit in the country?
04:08Personally, I don't think a speed limit on the highway is a bad thing.
04:12I don't drive particularly fast myself in my private life.
04:16And when I'm on duty, I see time and again that accidents are often caused by excessive speed.
04:25The speed limit debate in Germany has been going on for decades.
04:29About 65 percent of the entire autobahn network currently has no limit.
04:34Well, that was more excitement than I bargained for.
04:38What impressed me the most about these officers is how quickly they reacted to the action on the autobahn and also how cool they remained under pressure.
04:48I definitely have a renewed respect for the work they do.