Radars on the increase

More and more speed cameras are popping up on the side of French roads.

Although the stated objective of this increase by the French government, is to reduce accidents and deaths, in reality there is also a very profitable side to their strategy. And for good reason, speed cameras have always been a very good financial windfall for the government. It therefore multiplies the locations and investments to make these devices even more profitable. And that obviously seems to pay off, as the Court of Auditors has just revealed the figures for last year and they are impressive. The record income from radars of €825 million was set in 2017, but it could soon be broken as the government implements new radars. After several rather mediocre years, profitability is indeed back - according to the report of the Court of Auditors, the French state has received no less than 707 million euros . All this is without counting the increased fines of those paid late. As a result, revenues are up 8% compared to last year, when 655 million had still been collected by the government. This figure is still very high, but what is the reason for this increase? In reality, there are several things that explain this increase in revenue . First of all, the increase in car traffic, with the end of working from home after the pandemic. But also the radars were less vandalised, so much more available to catch speeding vehicles. This is despite several factors such as the summer heat wave reducing traffic volume as well as a major technical problem that affected a quarter of all speed cameras last June