Speed ​​cameras: a senator wants to ban their reporting

It was to be expected: with the bad figures for road fatalities (+ 30.4% in September), ever more restrictive proposals are emerging. Most recent, the desire of a senator to ban all devices allowing to report and locate radars and police checks, warning devices and social networks included.

Jean-Pierre Grand, LR senator from Herault (34) and mayor of Castelnau-le-Lez, expresses in a letter addressed to the government his wish to make illegal all means allowing to prevent the presence of radars and police checks. Immediately much criticized, this measure is initially aimed at radar detectors, modestly renamed ". 

Since that date, the Coyotes, Winkangoo and other Wazes no longer indicate the precise location of radar controls (automatic or on-board), but "dangerous zones" which extend over 500 meters in the city, 2 km outside town and 4 km on the highway. In other words, a sufficient portion to be flashed "for your safety". Even several times! The traditional "beacon calls" between users and exchanges via CB between truckers are also concerned..

"A source of information for delinquents, even for terrorists"

"This kind of behavior has consequences on the effectiveness of the policy to fight against road insecurity", assures Jean-Pierre Grand, who does not hesitate to play the card of the terrorist threat by arguing that all means reporting controls "constitute a major source of information for delinquents, and even for terrorists". Downright !

And Senator Grand even feeds a reprehensible project of even greater scope: the elected Herault also calls for the removal of the social networks on which circulate information relating to the presence of speed cameras and police on the roads! The only problem: after months of debate and a high profile trial, the court of cassation recently authorized it. Around 30 of these groups are said to have some 500,000 members today.. 

Whose act? In theory, yes, but in practice, not quite … The government cannot reverse a decision of the court of cassation but can bypass it by changing the legal texts, insofar as a decision of the court of cassation relates only to the legislation on the date on which it was issued. In other words, the state can get over it by adding an article to the highway code aimed at prohibiting exchanges of this type on specific groups via social networks….  

"Banning all signage, whether through social networks or community boxes, is insane. Firstly because these tools have a real role to play in road safety: they warn of potentially dangerous areas, recall speed limits and therefore promote the vigilance of users.On the other hand, because these devices are today so developed and widespread among motorists – we speak in millions of users – that it would be unrealistic to seek to ban them completely ", protests Daniel Quero, president of" 40 million motorists "

For Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of the association, it is above all the possible drifts that are to be feared: "if we ban boxes, applications, social networks, we will soon also remove radar signs. There is therefore a risk of legitimizing any location where radars are installed, whether accident-prone or not, and of making the policy of speeding even less acceptable. Once again, the good news would only be for them. State coffers, which would undoubtedly see an increase in revenue linked to radar fines, which already amount to nearly a billion euros ".

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