French Speed Cameras With a Difference

Transport News Network, 9 th January 2006

Big Brother is set to take to two wheels in France in the coming months in a bid to clamp down on speeding motorists.

Police in the south of France are testing a new mini-camera worn by officers riding unmarked motorbikes to catch traffic offenders.

"We film what's going on in front of us and can immediately send by radio the licence plate of the vehicle committing the offence," the police commander behind the initiative, Captain Didier Gurnot, explained.

Tests have been carried out in the region around the Mediterranean city of Montpellier for several weeks and, if it proves effective, is likely to be extended in France. The camera is so small that it is hidden inside an officer's helmet, making him indistinct from any of the other one million civilian motorbike riders in the country.

Gurnot said the use of an unmarked motorbike and rider meant motorists were unaware they were being spied upon and therefore could not warn other drivers of a police presence by flashing their lights, as they otherwise often do.

Those who break the road rules are not pulled over. Instead a ticket is automatically sent to the vehicle owner's address, as is the case with France's system of automated roadside radars.