Twelve. This is the number of educational radars available to the municipality of Draguignan. Every three months, the technical teams of the municipality move them.
“We have doubled the number of devices at our disposal and I want to acquire more”, warns Grégory Loew, deputy mayor for works. “Because we must not lie to each other, there are crazy people driving among us.”
These radars allow motorists to become aware of their speed at a given location. “In general, it is the neighborhood councils that bring up their feeling of excessive speeds”, reports Grégory Loew. “Sentiment, then you have to have precise data to know if this is really the case.”
Dracénois who pass in front of these radars can have an indication of their speed, slightly weighted. But these devices inform the services of the municipality much more.
“In reality, these radars can measure speed in both directions, even if they only indicate the speed of vehicles in one direction”, says the elected official. “We also collect the date and time of each passage.”
Data which is then analyzed by the services of the town hall. “We provide the reports to the neighborhood council to give them precise feedback”, details the chosen one. “We classify the speed in three categories: those who respect the speed, those who are in moderate excess, namely 10km/h over the limit; then the crazy drivers who make us peak at more than 30km/h beyond the authorized limit”, lists Grégory Loew.
During the speed readings carried out last year on the Old Road in Grasse, the device installed had recorded 92% of motorists in the rules; about 6% with a speed between 50 and 60km/h and 2% with significant excesses. “These are readings taken in the Draguignan-Figanières direction”, he says. “In the other direction, the speed was slightly higher, but that was due to the slope.”
Once the data has been compiled and conclusions drawn, action must be taken (see below). Does this mean that speed cameras have to be installed? “Not necessarily”, tempers the chosen one.
“It depends on the will of the Var prefecture in charge of the matter. And for the moment, the state services are not fond of installing new devices. The devices are expensive and the damage is far too regular”, he concludes.
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