New ‘more discreet’ speed radars to be installed on French roads
The cameras can detect multiple offences
The new radars are much less obvious to drivers than standard cameras
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More discreet, multifunctional speed cameras are increasingly being installed in towns in France, with many able to detect several offences at the same time.
The new cameras, known as équipement de terrain urbain (ETU, urban field equipment), can detect speeding and other offences such as jumping a red light.
They are much less obvious to drivers than standard cameras.
This is because they:
Being caught by these cameras can result in fines for multiple offences at once, such as speeding while also breaking road rules. The aim is to help improve safety on roads that have a high accident rate.
ETUs may also soon be able to detect other offences as well, such as illegal parking, not wearing a seat belt or using a mobile phone while driving, states specialist website Turbo.fr.
Read also: French speed cameras set to detect more types of offences
The cameras were first tested in Toulouse (Occitanie), Metz (Grand Est), and Territoire de Belfort (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). They are now present in many other French towns and cities, including Montbéliard (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), Montpellier (Occitanie), and Lyon (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).
Read also: Can apps such as Waze show location of speed cameras on French roads?
Speeding in an urban area in France is punished by the loss of one point on your driving licence, and a €68 fine. Running a red light is punished by a €135 fine, and a loss of four licence points.
France has the seventh-highest number of fixed cameras in the world, at 3,911. This puts it far behind leaders Brazil (18,914 fixed cameras) and Russia (18,447), and the highest in Europe (Italy, with 11,805).
It is also fewer than the US (8,346) and the UK (7,965).
Read more: Speed cameras in France: how do they compare in number to the US and the UK?
However, France still managed to issue more than 15 million speeding fines in 2023 (the last year with full figures available). This compares to the UK’s 2.52 million fines in 2023, and around 40 million per year in the US.
