Pocket-sized radar trialled in France

Excess speed is blamed for causing one in four fatal accidents in France – said to have led to 1,000 of the 3,963 road deaths in 2011.

This summer has seen 14,000 police and gendarmes enforcing road rules to cut danger but deaths fell only slightly in July compared to 2015 with one fewer fatality at 352 while the number of accidents fell 1.6%.

This follows a June with the fewest road deaths on record – down 6% with 281 people killed – but this year’s road toll is still 1.5% up on 2015 with 1,921 dead in the first seven months.

Motorcycle gendarmes in Loir-et-Cher tested the new laser speed camera, called the TruSpeed SE, and said the pocket-sized unit was good for motorcycle use at just 410g and 13cm wide, being an improvement on the 1kg Ultra­lyte and 2.5kg binoculars used today.

Able to measure speeds up to 300kph and at a distance up to 640m, the unit is different from the fixed radar sites on major roads as gendarmes were barely visible while using it.

Able to see into the windscreens of cars, they could easily spot drivers using mobile phones or playing Pokémon Go but the tiny size and weight means the TruSpeed needed a tripod to hold the unit steady.

It was just one of a number of units tested by gendarmes and no decision has been made on buying the units, which cost €3,800, significantly less than the current €4,900 Ultralyte.

Meanwhile, motoring magazine Autoplus has found that one in three red lights is being ignored by drivers in France’s 10 major cities. Marseille, Nice and Paris were worst, with drivers ignoring half of lights.

Magazine journalists also had their stopwatches out testing for horn-happy drivers and found drivers in Bordeaux honk the driver in front after 3.7 seconds while those in Clermont-Ferrand wait 8.2 seconds.