Speed ​​cameras – Facebook group lawsuit on speed cameras: decision in September –

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Facebook group trial on radars: decision in September

Speed ​​cameras - Facebook group lawsuit on speed cameras: decision in September -

Members of the "Facebook group that tells you where the police are in Aveyron", sentenced in the first instance to a one-month license suspension for having reported and shared on the social network the location of the radar checks in the department, will have to wait for the September 21 to be fixed on their fate…

Members of the "Facebook group that tells you where the police are in Aveyron", sentenced in the first instance to a one-month license suspension for having reported and shared on the social network the location of the radar checks in the department, will have to wait for the September 21 to be fixed on their fate…

Article R413-15 of the Highway Code

I. – The fact of holding or transporting an appliance, device or product of a nature or presented as being of such a nature as to detect the presence or disrupt the operation of devices, instruments or systems used to detect infringements of legislation or the regulation of road traffic or allowing to evade the finding of said offenses is punishable by the fine provided for contraventions of the fifth class.

The fact of using a device, device or product of the same nature is punishable by the same penalties.

II. – That device, device or product is seized. When the apparatus, device or product is placed, adapted or applied to a vehicle, that vehicle may also be seized.

III. – Anyone guilty of the offense provided for in this article also incurs the following additional penalties:

  • 1 ° The additional penalty of suspension, for a period of three years at most, of the driving license, this suspension being able to be limited to driving outside professional activity.
  • 2 ° Confiscation of the vehicle, when the device which was used or was intended to commit the offense is placed, adapted or applied to a vehicle.

Any conviction automatically gives rise to the confiscation of the device which was used or was intended to commit the offense..

IV. – This contravention automatically gives rise to a reduction of two points of the driving license.

Last year, the Rodez court (12) estimated that the activity of this group – which today counts no less than! – constituted an "evasion of the observation of traffic offenses".

Yesterday, after two hours of debate, the Montpellier Court of Appeal (34) decided to put the case under advisement and will deliver its judgment on September 21, 2015.

"Device"

Legally, the court of appeal (then possibly the court of cassation) will have to rule on whether a Facebook group can be likened to a "apparatus, device or product" as stated by article R413-15 of the highway code (opposite).

"The Advocate General representing the prosecution requested confirmation of the decision of the Rodez Criminal Court on the guilt of the defendants, but requested a modification of the sentences according to the personality of the latter", explains Jean-François Chancheur , lawyer for one of the group members.

"We insisted on the fact that the provisions of article R413-15 of the highway code could not target a Facebook page as a device aimed at evading the finding of traffic offenses", continues the lawyer who pleads "the reversal of the decision and thus supported the release of all the defendants".

For its part, the Automobility and Future (A&A) think tank recalls that this affair "could have implications, beyond Facebook, on all on-board tools and on any new technology designed to support drivers in their daily lives. ".

"Hypocrisy"

A&A wonders if it would not be "time to put an end to the hypocrisy in this matter, even though information tools for danger zones, having the same functionalities, are marketed with the consent of the State. ". Recall that to maintain their legality, these speed camera warning devices had to be considerably degraded by their manufacturers (read MNC of May 12, 2011:, MNC of July 29, 2011: and MNC of October 25, 2011:).

This type of group – which could be described as public utility insofar as they allow precise knowledge of danger zones on the road – is very successful on social networks and on Facebook in particular: nearly 15,000 members for Aveyron, more than 10,000 "likes" in Vienne, more than 53,000 in Ile-de-France, etc.

Through these "calls for digital lighthouses", national solidarity also plays on Twitter with the hashtag, since even the National Police warns users of the locations of radar controls in the Alpes-Maritimes (opposite) !

To be continued on MNC in our special reports, and: stay connected…

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