Justice Thurgau High Court deems speed measurement with drone admissible

The Thurgau High Court has ruled that a speed measurement by the cantonal police using a drone was admissible. The police drone filmed a 48-year-old motorcyclist in Basadingen TG in the fall of 2022. Based on the recording, it then calculated a speed of 211 km/h using the distance traveled and the time required to do so.

The High Court deemed the police's actions to be admissible, as it wrote in a statement on Friday. The motorcyclist, on the other hand, demanded an acquittal of a first-instance conviction at the Frauenfeld District Court on the grounds of speeding. In his opinion, the police should not have used a drone to measure speed.

The motorcyclist complained that there was no legal basis for the use of an uncalibrated drone. The High Court disagreed with this view. According to the ruling, the police drone does not require approval and calibration by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology. The drone did not fall under the Road Traffic Control Ordinance and its implementing provisions.

There had been no permanent traffic monitoring by means of drone recordings. This was only started after the police suspected that the motorcyclist was speeding. Even before his massive acceleration, the motorcyclist was conspicuous because he was only riding on the rear wheel of his motorcycle on a country road.

According to the court ruling, the video recording with the drone by the police was "permitted under the given circumstances in criminal proceedings and also in accordance with the applicable Thurgau Data Protection Act".

Like the district court, it found the man guilty and punished him with a conditional custodial sentence of 18 months and a fine of CHF 2,200. He must also pay the full costs of the proceedings.

The decision is not legally binding.