Watch out! New mobile speed cameras about
The Savoyard Gendarmes have a new and efficient weapon in the war against speeding: mobile speed cameras mounted in unmarked police cars. Three such vehicles are already in use in the department, a mauve Ford Focus in the Tarentaise area, a grey Mégane around Chambéry and a green Peugeot in the Maurienne valley. Each vehicle is equipped with a digital camera, a zip drive to record several hundred images, a radar capable of measuring speeds up to 300 km/hr, a double flash (for licence plate and driver) and an on-board computer. The new system considerably reduces police time and has led to a recent big increase in the number of speeding fines (in the first five months of this year the number of fines was three times higher than in the same period last year).
Even moderate speeding will prove expensive: the camera will flash at 96km/hr in a 90km/hr limit, and 90% of fines are given for ‘small' speeding infractions. Exceeding the limit by up to 20km/hr will cost 45€, speeding by 50km/hr may lead to a 1500€ fine and driving licence suspension. Will speeding fines reach drivers of foreign cars? Maybe not yet, but non-French vehicles can still be caught by on-foot patrols who can demand on-the-spot fines….
