Although the year 2020 had significantly reduced the number of motorists on the roads, especially during the confinement, in 2021 it began to increase again and with it the activity of radars. Florence Guillaume, inter-ministerial delegate for Road Safety, gives some figures this Friday in the columns of Le Parisien.
“In 2021, fixed radars generated 14.6 million offense messages (flashes), on-board radars (outsourced or conducted by the police) 1.4 million,” he says, rejoicing that the annual number of deaths in roads has dropped from 8,000 to less than 3,500 in just 20 years.
“The threshold of 4,700 radars was set in 2015 and we do not intend to have more, also declares the general of the gendarmerie. However, we intend to continue with this public policy of radar modernization that contributed to a great extent to reduce the number of deaths on the roads.
More urban radars and fewer points withdrawn
Florence Guillaume mentioned various forms of speed cameras, including the latest: urban speed cameras that are still in the experimental stage in the cities of Toulouse, Montbéliard, Marseille and Montpellier, but where they should finally generate reports in the first months of the ‘ year.
“In 2023 there should be 200 active urban radars throughout the territory, and four to five times as many booths to be able to move the radars from one to another. At the moment, these urban radars are approved to control speed and red crossing. lights”, he recalls, mentioning the detection of the telephone while driving and the non-use of the seat belt as elements of reflection.
Another major axis of reflection refers to the degree of penalty linked to minor speeding, more specifically to the idea of eliminating the deduction of points below 10 km/h outside built-up areas. “The idea would be to keep the fine so that everyone is aware that it is an infraction, but not get a point in this case,” he stresses while specifying that more than 80% of motorists have at least 11 points out of 12. For For her part, Florence Guillaume discards the hypothesis of an end of permission by points.
Outsourced mobile radars in all departments by the end of the year?
Already present in around 40 French departments, radar cars should reach the roads of the last five regions that are still free: Corsica, Île-de-France, Occitanie, Paca and Rhône-Alpes. “We imagine that it will be in 2023, but at this moment the green light has not been given, explains Florence Guillaume. It is not foreseen for the Overseas Territories”. Currently 381 radar cars are circulating in France, especially in the western part of the country. Almost 60% of them are operated by private companies (outsourced roadside checkpoints).
According to data from the Automated Control Department of the Road Safety Delegation, the 538,000 violations registered by these unmarked radar cars in 2021 led to the withdrawal of 782,000 points for a fine of around 54 million euros. Figures show that speed limit violations increase as the speed limit decreases. “When 37% of the controls on roads at 70 km/h are measured above the limit, only 22% of those carried out on roads at 90 km/h and even less on sections of motorway at 130 km/h (16% )”, notes Le Parisien.
There are also disparities between departments. In general, it is the Bretons and Normans who are most subject to controls with more than 300,000 in general in the year 2021 and peaks of more than 400,000 for La Manche and Ille-et-Villaine. In the eastern part of the territory, the Haute-Marne department lists less than 8,000. Disparities also persist in terms of verbalization. The Landes and the Somme act like bad students here with almost 15% of checkpoints being 10% over the speed limit, unlike the Pas-de-Calais and the North where this proportion is only 6%.
Source: BFM TV
