Nouvelle-Aquitaine speed camera catches 540 drivers in one day

A new speed camera in western France has ‘flashed’ and caught 540 drivers in one day, a record number in the country for a single camera.

The mobile camera, which has been installed on the RN10 in Angoulême (Charente) since September 19 while roadworks are taking place, catches an average of 330 vehicles a day.

On September 24, it caught 540 offences in just 24 hours - a record number far above even the most efficient speed cameras in the country, reported the region’s Direction des routes.

The temporary camera has been placed in a location designed to protect workers on the road, by forcing drivers to slow down before they enter the working zone. This means the speed limit is 70 kph instead of 110 kph; a significant difference that appears to be catching one in three drivers who pass through.

The camera’s ‘best’ day beat the previous national record, which was set in 2023 by a speed camera on the A8 road at Cagnes-sur-Mer, and once detected 400 offences in one day, according to the itinerary website Mappy.

The camera “flashes an average of 250 to 300 times per day, with a peak of 540 flashes on September 24, 2025, demonstrating the usefulness of such a device in relation to the behaviour of certain users”, said the inter-departmental road authority, the DIR Atlantique.

Cameras in France are typically designed to catch speeding drivers, but some can also detect drivers who commit other offences, including running red lights or using a mobile phone while driving.

New mobile cameras are the size of a small, wheeled suitcase, and operate independently once they are installed. They can record up to 20,000 infractions per year per camera (four times more than the capacity of a traditional camera), reports RTL.

Since January this year, the government has increasingly rolled out this style of camera. There are currently 450 in use, with a further 100 expected to be installed by the end of the year.

Speed camera position 

The positioning of speed cameras is a cause for frequent debate in France. 

Some believe that they are placed with more of an aim to increase state revenue than to prevent accidents.

There are no laws in France requiring drivers to be notified of the position of speed cameras. However, the government uses signs to inform drivers of camera presence, to reduce the risk of accidents and complaints about areas where they are installed.

For example, on a road with a speed limit of 70 kph, signs are placed around 300 metres from the camera, rising to 400 metres for roads with a limit of 80 kph or 90 kph. 

On motorways (where speeds of up to 110 kph to 130 kph are permitted), signs are 600 metres away. 

This allows drivers around 15 to 17 seconds to reduce their speed before the cameras, with the aim of ensuring there are no cases of sudden braking. However, depending on the environment and road conditions (turns and bends, changes in altitude etc), the necessary stopping distance can vary by up to 50 metres.

In cities and built-up areas where limits are lower but speed cameras are still in place, signs will be posted at the start of the lower speed limit zone or when the urban area begins, informing drivers of the presence of speed cameras. An individual camera in such an area is not always notified by its own sign.

Similarly, neither cameras at red lights, moveable cameras set up by police vehicles, nor mobile devices on both police cars and unmarked vehicles require advance signage to warn drivers of their presence.

Camera criticisms

Earlier this month, the installation of a speed camera at a particularly dangerous intersection in Normandy was criticised after some said it was ineffective and had been installed ‘without consultation’.

More than 15 million speeding fines were issued in 2023, the last year with full figures available in the country.

This was despite France only having the seventh-highest number of fixed cameras in the world, at 3,911. This is far fewer than Brazil (18,914 fixed radars) and Russia (18,447), and also significantly lower than the highest in Europe – Italy has 11,805. It is also fewer than the US (8,346) and the UK (7,965). 

Yet, hitting back at growing concerns, this year Italy reformed its speed camera laws to ensure that they were focused on tackling accidents, rather than gathering revenue or deliberately trying to catch out motorists.

Fine challenges

Several million speeding fines are issued each year in France, and there have been a number of high-profile cases of incorrect speeding and other driving offence fines recently. 

This includes one where a driver successfully challenged a fine in court after proving that he had not been on the road at all on the day he was supposedly photographed speeding. Similarly, one man in northeast France recently chose to contest an alleged fine after police mistook his hearing aid for an illegal hands-free phone earpiece.

It is possible to challenge a speeding fine in France, but only through a set process, and only if you do not pay the fine first.