False speed cameras installed in French town
There is also real signage designed to alert drivers to the cameras’ presence
It is illegal for private citizens to put up fake speed cameras or camera signposts on the public highway, but a mayor has the authority to do so
M G White/Shutterstock
A mayor in central France has installed false speed cameras, with real signage, in an attempt to encourage drivers to slow down when driving through his town.
The two cameras in Malemort, near Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze), look real. One is placed in the town, and another is on a county road nearby. Yet, they do not flash or catch offenders, as they are entirely false.
“It is educational, they don’t [actually send drivers] a financial penalty, but help to reduce speed,” explained the town’s mayor Laurent Darthou, who installed the cameras. “Everyone benefits,” he told TF1.
“It is not complicated,” said Philippe Brugeat, the commune’s technical services director. “Each camera is a metal frame covered with steel panels. And then, for the back, we have installed some retro-reflective strips. It costs around €1,000 per unit.”
Warning signs, which are the same as those that would be installed if the cameras were real, have been placed 100 metres before the cameras, to ‘warn’ motorists.
An illegal move?
It is illegal for private citizens to put up fake speed cameras or camera signposts on the public highway, but these two are permitted, because a mayor has the authority to take such action to improve safety in their own town.
“The mayor is the police authority in his municipality, so he is fully within his rights to take police measures,” explained Vincent Berton, the prefect of Corrèze. “In this case, it is more of a road safety awareness and prevention measure.”
The fake cameras come soon after it emerged that an estimated 15% of real speed cameras in France are out of service at any given time, mainly due to vandalism.
Recent incidents in southern France illustrate a pattern that police say is becoming more organised and more frequent.
Yet, road safety officials say that speed cameras have a measurable impact on driver behaviour. Plus, replacing damaged cameras is estimated to cost between €20million-€40 million annually; funds that could otherwise be directed towards road safety improvements or infrastructure upgrades.
Motoring lobby group 40 Millions d’automobilistes has said that while it does not condone vandalism, the rising damage reflects a “breakdown in trust” between drivers and the state, with cameras increasingly seen as punitive rather than preventive.
Some residents still believe in speed cameras’ power, however. One couple in Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) recently disguised their postbox as a speed camera in an attempt to slow cars down when passing their property.
This is legal as the postbox is on the residents’ private property (as long as the camera does not flash).
“Just before our house, the speed limit is 70 km/h and right after, it becomes 50 km/h as there is a community school in our village,” Stéphanie Moumon, a home care worker from La Douze, told The Connexion. “People do not respect the 50 km/h speed limit and drive far too fast.”
“We did not do this to annoy people. We did it to make people think about their driving. Once an accident takes place, it is too late to think,” she said.
