Row over plans for five new speed radars on Ile de Ré
The prefect says it is justified as the 35km-long island has the highest number of fatal accidents in the Charente-Maritime. Only one camera will be in use at a time but drivers will not know which
Ile de Ré is 35km from end to end but has 12 road deathstrabantos / Shutterstock
The tiny Ile de Ré – an island just 35km end to end off La Rochelle – is to have five new speed cameras set up on its two main roads.
Local politicians are furious but Charente-Maritime prefect said it was “among the department’s most accident-prone areas” with 43 serious accidents, 12 deaths and 35 people in hospital between 2010 and 2018.
The prefect added that it was first for the number of deaths, second in terms of accidents, and second for victims needing treatment at hospital.
Although the departmental council voted in favour, mayors complain of a lack of consultation about the issue.
They said island roads had already seen maximum speeds cut to 80kph in 2018 and the new radars were in addition to one already on the mainland bridge.
Pic: Rainer Lesniewski / Shutterstock
Lionel Quillet, mayor of Loix and president of the communauté de communes, told Le Parisien that the island’s main road was less than 30km long but “Ré would probably become the place with the most speed cameras in France”.
The prefect said the speed cameras would start to be installed in autumn, with the aim of being in use by year end.
Only one camera will be in use at a time but drivers will not know which.
They are of the new tourelle type that spots speeding in both directions, drivers not wearing a seatbelt, those using a mobile phone, and those driving too close.
Ad
Some islanders fear this latter function would affect the island’s very busy roads in the summer, giving rich pickings in fines.
Across France, drivers got 13.3 million speeding tickets in 2020 with the radar in Cagnes-sur-Mer in Alpes-Maritimes catching the most, flashing nearly 170,000 times.
Next was the speed camera at Le Bourget, Seine-Saint-Denis, with 130,698 tickets, while the one at Floirac, Gironde, had 126,255.
