Speed cameras in France: how do they compare in number to the US and the UK?
More fines are issued per-camera by French radars than many other countries
More than 15 million fines were issued for speeding in France in 2023
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France’s speed camera network is not one of the world’s most comprehensive, despite the number of tickets issued.
More than 15 million speeding fines were handed out in 2023 (the last year with full figures available) in the country, keeping radars incredibly busy.
Read more: Record rise in driving fines in France: what offences and how caught
This is despite France only having the seventh-highest number of fixed radars in the world, at 3,911.
This is far less than leaders Brazil (18,914 fixed radars) and Russia (18,447), and also significantly lower than the highest in Europe – Italy has 11,805.
It is also fewer than the US (8,346) and the UK (7,965).
Note, however, that France has a highly-functioning unit of mobile speed cameras, and is planning on further upgrading speed cameras in 2025, in part via the use of AI.
Read more: How to spot an unmarked speed radar car in France
Read more: Does France use ‘AI’ speed radars? What does this mean for drivers?
Why do French radars record so many speeding fines?
For comparison the UK issued some 2.52 million fines in 2023 according to the UK government, the US issues around 40 million per year.
The high level of fines per-speed camera in France is largely due to how they are placed on the road network.
Other countries may place speed cameras in the most accident-prone locations in an attempt to avoid incidents, however France often places them on busy roads where statistics show speeding is more common, catching more drivers.
In contrast roads where accidents happen more frequently may not have speed cameras if the roads are used than others.
French law also allows for the placing of cameras on motorways (autoroutes) where speeding is statistically safer and is potentially a more regular occurrence. They are also placed in 30 km/h urban zones where over 800,000 people were caught speeding in 2023.
Lower tolerance of speeding
France is also stricter than many other countries when it comes to speed camera margins of error.
In the UK for example, speed cameras have a margin of error of 10% +2 m/ph over the limit.
In France, the margin is 5 km/h in areas where the limit is 100 km/h, and 5% in areas where it is above.
Read more: Driving in France: what are the acceptable ‘error’ margins of speed cameras?
Someone driving in a 60 m/ph zone in the UK theoretically has a margin of error of 68 m/ph before triggering a fine via speed camera action.
In France, however, someone in a 60 km/h zone would only have a margin of error of 65 km/h.
In the US, these margins of error are around 10% - 15%.
