Not all automatic speed cameras are 100% effective. The magazine Auto Plus has identified many errors of radars installed along the roads of France. Motorists have sometimes won their case, but not always …
Automatic radars flashed 19 million times in 2020 in France. A special year with two confinements which greatly reduced, especially during the first period, the number of motorists on the roads. However, only 65% of the 19 million French vehicles flashed received the ticket at home.
Many radars have been covered with black tarpaulins, as on the Toulouse ring road in recent days, making it impossible to use the images. Human or electronic bugs also explain this figure.
The magazine Auto Plus identified, in its last issue, the errors of the radars.
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Radars flashing all the time
A radar that flashes all cars regardless of their speed? It’s possible ! Motorists experienced this situation on February 23 in Condrieu in the Rhône or on February 15 on the A35 in Strasbourg. Auto Plus indicates that the PV processing center in Rennes can deactivate a radar remotely if it notices abnormal activity on a radar booth.
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Speed cameras that flash twice
In Vault-de-Lugny in the Yonne, two radars were located on each side of the road in a hamlet. A few weeks ago, an old radar which flashes from the rear was maintained while the second was replaced by a turret radar which flashes from the front. A motorist flashed at 52 km / ha received two fines and twice a point withdrawn. He had been checked red-handed by the two radars.
A radar can be badly adjusted or badly calibrated. In Vendargues (Hérault), a work area was limited to 90 km / h but the radar had been calibrated to 80 km / h. In Draguignan (Var), a mobile radar flashed vehicles above 50 km / h while the authorized speed was 70 km / h. The police hadn’t paid attention. PVs were contested and canceled, says Auto Plus.
There are discriminating radars which manage to recognize a car or a heavy goods vehicle, for which the speed limits are not always identical. The radars installed on the A1 in Chamant (Oise), on the A26 in Luyères (Aube) or on the RN12 in Plounévez-Moëdec (Côtes d’Armor) confused a slightly tall car or a van with a heavy vehicle . These radars are now in the process of disappearing to be replaced by new generation cabins.
A turret radar installed in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (Var) suddenly began to flash for no reason. Last fall, a motorist Sergine Sanner-Carron even received 55 PV in a few days! Auto Plus indicates that the prefecture considered that the radar was working perfectly. It seems that the regulars of the route are rolling in front of the radar or have even changed the route so as not to pass in front of it.
There may be times when speed cameras are … lenient with drivers. In Paris, a radar installed in an area limited to 30 km / h flashes above 50 km / h.
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