Some 14,700 police officers will be watching out for speeding cars at more than 8,700 locations throughout the country during the so-called "Blitz-Marathon" - a term referring to the flashing light triggered by cars driving too fast past a speed camera.

The idea of a 24-hour operation was initiated in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The decision to carry out a nationwide crackdown was made in May at a conference of Germany's interior ministers.

North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, has seen a larger-than-average fall in the number of people killed or injured on its roads since last year, when it implemented the speeding crackdown.