According to a publication on Facebook, the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde (19) has installed multifunction cameras to detect numerous offenses such as failure to wear a seat belt, use of a telephone while driving or lack of 'insurance.
Radars have been installed in the city but they are ANPR cameras, which are used to read license plates, for the use of the police and justice only.
The authorities already have a large arsenal of radars, but all of them are only dedicated to speed control and crossing red lights or level crossings.
A new type of camera would have emerged in the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde.
This is what denounces a Facebook group dedicated to the sub-prefecture of Corrèze.
According to this publication, seen more than 140,000 times in 24 hours, "new generation" radars have appeared in the city dear to Patrick Sébastien.
The author of the post claims to have seen a dozen in all.
Other Internet users react and confirm having seen these machines everywhere and alert each other against the development of video surveillance in the city.
According to the latter, this radar would be able to scan vehicles in search of possible offences: Seat belt use, speed, use of the telephone, lack of insurance, technical control, lack of gray card, etc.
Would we have to do with Robocop road radars?
FAKE OFF
The photo accompanying the publication proves that this radar is installed in the city of Brive.
Contacted by
20 Minutes
, the mayor confirms the presence of radars in the city, but she does not wish to disclose their locations.
A quick search on Google street shows that the photo is taken on Avenue de Paris, in front of the Brivoptic store, visible in the background.
We find the large post that carries the radar and the smaller one, a pedestrian light, a few meters away.
Where the publication attributes to this radar a number of skills worthy of "Big Brother", the town hall calms the game. According to her, these cameras are not intended for speed cameras and are only used to read license plates cars.
“They are not intended for everyday use and are reserved exclusively for the use of the national police forces, gendarmerie and customs for their legal investigations, such as reporting stolen vehicles.
[…] They are not intended for video-verbalization purposes, ”says a spokesperson for the municipality.
Reading license plates
The town hall tells us that the radars mentioned are of the Tattile brand.
This model can be found on the manufacturer's website in the ANPR section for "Automatic number-plate recognition".
In French: Automatic license plate reading (LAPI).
The manufacturer specifies the functions of this camera: Toll, parking, access control and urban road monitoring.
Some municipalities use these cameras, but their use is limited to checking the post-parking pass.
The National Commission for Computing and Liberties (Cnil), moreover, recalled it in a press release in August 2020, faced with municipalities tempted to use them to track violations of the Highway Code: "The collection and the processing of photographs of vehicles, in particular a close view of the license plate, for the exercise of the power of judicial police by the municipalities (in connection with the contraventions provided for in the Highway Code) are not authorized in the current state of regulation.
»
The multifunction radar not yet deployed
If rumors of multifunction radars, as described in the publication, are regularly cited, including the launch of the Mesta 2 fusion radars (called turret radars).
They are not currently in operation, as shown by the last response from the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, in 2021, to a question on the subject put to him in the National Assembly: "The development of 'a video extension module capable of eventually allowing the verbalization of offenses by analyzing recorded images (such as failure to wear a seat belt, telephone while driving, lack of vehicle insurance and validity of technical control) has to date been neither commissioned by the State nor developed by the company Idemia.
»
However, the police are not powerless since they already have a large arsenal of radars, as the site sécurité-routière.gouv.fr specifies.
Speed, clearance and soon… noise
There are therefore fixed radars.
Those who are going to pound when you pass the sign indicating their presence on the road.
Crossing speed cameras, at red lights or level crossings, which are not signalled.
And educational radars, which indicate your speed with warning messages such as SLOW DOWN or DANGER.
They do not report violations.
Many decoys, fake speed cameras, are also used by the authorities to hold drivers accountable.
There are also movable radars.
Mobile and autonomous, they have the same function as fixed speed cameras but are temporarily installed in risk areas such as construction sites or sensitive sections over certain periods.
Finally, there are also the famous "twins", these mobile radars, embedded in a stationary vehicle or in the hands of a policeman.
They are most often used in accident-prone areas.
A little new one could soon make its appearance.
Currently being tested in many cities, the sound radar, which assesses and punishes abuses, could be deployed on a large scale in a few years.
Company
Lyon: A hundred new radars deployed by the State will be installed in the metropolis
Company
Lyon: A hundred new radars deployed by the State will be installed in the metropolis
Company
Automotive
fake-off
Radar
Fine