This makes it really expensive
Drivers fear the new super speed traps
Updated on October 30, 2024 – 11:12 a.m. Reading time: 3 min.
There is a speed camera on a street in Paris (symbolic image). (Source: Francois Mori/dpa)
Speed, red light, distance, seatbelt and cell phone at the wheel: France‘s speed traps will in future be able to detect many violations at the same time. The protest against this is huge.
The boom in artificial intelligence does not stop at road traffic. Not just with autonomous systems in cars or trucks, but also with speed traps. A system that was developed in the Netherlands is currently making its triumphant advance through Europe. After extensive testing, the “super radars” are now being tested on the road in more and more pilot projects. Also in Germany.
In France, the government of Emmanuel Macron has now apparently decided to use the latest generation of speed cameras across the board. Hidden in an appendix to the 2025 budget, the media came across the plan to increase the number of permanently installed speed traps to 4,160 and to enable several hundred speed cameras to automatically punish other violations in addition to speeding and red light violations.
The radar devices could therefore be able to automatically detect further violations, the broadcaster France Info quoted from the government plans. Some of the approximately 4,000 speed traps in the country will also use AI to monitor distance, seat belt requirements and the ban on cell phones while driving.
The so-called “super radars” work with a “monocam” that no longer reacts to individual speeding violations, but instead continuously takes pictures of the section of road assigned to it. The AI then detects any irregularities and sends the corresponding image section to an official, who then checks the possible violation.
In order to expand the automated controls, 46.3 million euros are reserved in the draft budget for the coming year, both for the maintenance of the existing speed traps and for the procurement of new speed traps.
France’s automobile club suspects government rip-offs are behind the upgrade of the speed traps (archive image). (Source: Francois Mori/AP/dpa)
The French automobile club 40 Millions d’automobilistes, however, is already up in arms, suspecting that the plans are largely a state rip-off. “The new radar devices have no real impact on road safety, but only serve to pursue larger financial interests,” the automobile club explained.
The government is already expecting numerous fine notices, because the draft budget law for 2025 states that “the expenses for printing and postage for the preparation and dispatch of fine notices will increase.”
The permanently installed speed cameras on France’s roads are often the target of vandalism (archive image). (Source: Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa)
For drivers in France who don’t take the rules very seriously, it could definitely be unpleasant and expensive with the upgraded speed traps. These should be able to punish the various violations in one go. If you drive too fast and too close behind the person in front of you with your cell phone to your ear, you could face three times the standard fine of 135 euros.
In addition to the fines, drivers also face deductions of up to three points from their penalty account. In France you don’t collect points, you have them withdrawn. Drivers in the neighboring country start with a credit of twelve points, and points are deducted for every punishable offense. If you get zero points, your driver’s license is gone.
The automobile club particularly criticizes the automated punishment of drivers. It would make more sense for the prevention of dangerous driving behavior if the police did more on-site inspections again. The advocacy group for drivers in France warns of a real “avalanche of fines” if the measure is actually implemented.
In the land of revolt and protest, speed traps are always the target of destruction, and not just from drivers who have been flashed. The destructiveness is particularly great when large nationwide protests are directed against the government, for example in view of the pension reform in 2023. And during the yellow vest protests in 2019, three quarters of all speed traps were destroyed by demonstrators.
