Speed camera info on Sat nav's

[sparky]

I read an article in the Telegraph that the French Police are fining motorist who have speed camera locations preloaded on their Sat Nav’s. The article mentioned fines of £1000. This seems very strange as before I had my box of tricks I used to print out a route from www.viamichelin.com which had the location of fixed speed cameras on it.

Anyone had any dealings with the matter

[Clair]

Fixed speed cameras locations are officially listed by the French governement in an attempt to bring accident levels down. Mobile roadside camera units are not listed, although the website will tell you if they are in the area: http://www.controleradar.org/

This page (in French) will explain the distinction: http://www.controleradar.org/detecteur-de-radar.html

Speed trap detectors are unlawful in France, whether used or not. If you have one in your car, remove it before travelling to France as mere possession of will entail a heavy fine.

[quote]

Article R413-15 du code de la route

---

(Décret nº 2003-642 du 11

juillet 2003 art. 5 VI Journal Officiel du 12 juillet

2003)

I. - Le fait de détenir ou de transporter un appareil,

dispositif ou produit de nature ou présenté comme étant de

nature à déceler la présence ou perturber le

fonctionnement d'appareils, instruments ou systèmes

servant à la constatation des infractions à la législation

ou à la réglementation de la circulation routière ou de

permettre de se soustraire à la constatation desdites

infractions est puni de l'amende prévue pour les

contraventions de la cinquième classe.

Le fait de faire usage d'un appareil, dispositif ou

produit de même nature est puni des mêmes peines.

II. - Cet appareil, ce dispositif ou ce produit est saisi.

Lorsque l'appareil, le dispositif ou le produit est placé,

adapté ou appliqué sur un véhicule, ce véhicule peut

également être saisi.

III. - Toute personne coupable de l'infraction prévue au

présent article encourt également les peines

complémentaires suivantes :

1º La peine complémentaire de suspension, pour une durée

de trois ans au plus, du permis de conduire, cette

suspension pouvant être limitée à la conduite en dehors de

l'activité professionnelle ;

2º La confiscation du véhicule, lorsque le dispositif qui

a servi ou était destiné à commettre l'infraction est

placé, adapté ou appliqué sur un véhicule.

Toute condamnation donne lieu de plein droit à la

confiscation du dispositif qui a servi ou était destiné à

commettre l'infraction.

IV. - Cette contravention donne lieu de plein droit à la

réduction de deux points du permis de conduire.[/quote]

[briwy]

This page in English from the same site that Clair has mentioned seems to make it fairly clear that GPS systems with camera locations are OK.

I was stopped last year at a routine check at a peage near Tarbes and the police asked what the unit was on my dash.  Explained that it was a GPS system and they were quite OK about it.

Having said that I have yet to see a really good database with French cameras on. Ther doesnt appear to be one that is as comprehensive as the UK one.

Brian

[Btuckey]

[quote user="briwy"]

Having said that I have yet to see a really good database with French cameras on. Ther doesnt appear to be one that is as comprehensive as the UK one.

[/quote]

On the contrary, the ‘gpspassion’ site has a speedtrap database that is as good as UK ones if not better.  The site has two versions of the database; Standard and Plus.  The former is downloadable by any registered member (easy to do) and is updated every few months.  (The last was 23^rd December 06.)  The Plus version is updated regularly, but you either have to contribute a new trap location or pay a small subscription.  Having said that I use the Standard version and it has all of our local traps on it.

For further details check out; http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9172 and http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9582 

Brian  

 

[briwy]

That look good.

Ill certainly give that a go

Thanks for the info

Brian

[Andyphilpott]

I have a Tom Tom and asked just this question last year. Consensus was that gps units are ok (unlike radar detectors as covered above) but TomTom would not give any guarantees. The police can be (deliberately?) ignorant of the law. I will take a copy of the article posted above and keep it in the car just in case.

I use the Tom Tom safety cameras updates for the UK and France. The UK ones seem fine and the unit has picked up French cameras on the autoroute when driving down through France as well as in Hyeres, but I cannot speak for elsewhere. Useful to have so that I know the danger areas - as chosen by the authorities - and drive accordingly.

The proliferation of hand held radar units does mean that speeding is a high risk gamble so frankly not worth it.

Am I alone in thinking that driving has improved substantially since the crack down on mad drivers over the last couple of years? Journeys seem quicker even though there are less drivers exceeding the limit to a substantial extent - probably due to less accidents creating jams!

Andy

[Pierre ZFP]

Not sure if driving has improved or not, I do feel that I have less agression shown to me now that I don't have a UK plated car.  One stat that Lord Clarkson of TopGear came out with was that there has been no reduction in road deaths/injuries since the introduction of speed cameras.  Of course there's no way of knowing how high the toll would have been without them.  One thing is for sure is that you are much more likely to have an accident near a speed camera as motorists take their eye off the road and/or brake sharply to check the speed. 

[Jonzjob]

Why not just obey the law and don't speed in the first place. Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...

Yes, I have had a couple ofspeeding tickets, years ago when the roads were quieter than now. One of those was a wrongly timed VASCAR when there was the blanket 50 mph limit across the country.

[Bob T]

To be fair the question was not whether to speed or not, it was are GPS systems with speed camera databases legal. I have never had a speed ticket but have exceeded  the speed limits many times,these days I tend to stick to them if not on the motorway.

[Bugsy]

Me too Bob, I can't afford to do otherwise.

A driver in France would have to be pretty non-observant to miss the enormous warning signs on the approach to fixed cameras.

Mobile ones are a different matter altogether and are frequently hidden.

[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/Bugbear2/speedenforcement1.jpg[/IMG]

[Btuckey]

[quote user="Jonzjob"]

Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...

[/quote]

The laws of physics work differently in your area do they? [:-))]

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="Btuckey"][quote user="Jonzjob"]

Even if you do speed you won't get there very much quicker anyway...

[/quote]

The laws of physics work differently in your area do they? [:-))]

[/quote]

No different to yours!

If I were to do 130 Km at 130 KPH ( the legal limit on paege autoroutes in the dry) and you were to do the same distance at 150 KPH  then you would arrive at the pay point 12 minutes before me. Mind you I would be paying at the same time as you would be trying to tell the 'Damjams' (gendamerie) why you were in such a hurry... You may get away with it, but is it worth the chance for 12 mins?[geek][geek]. You could have a cup of coffe peut etra? BIG DEAL!

After all if you read what I said it was, as above, "you won't get there very much quicker"

[Jonzjob]

P.S. Sorry this has taken a long time to reply, but I have got back from crewing on a péniche for the last 3 days on the canal du Midi. Not speeding, just about 5.2 KPH approximately. What a wonderful way to travel [8-|][B]

(péniche = 30  metre barge)