Switzerland - Sharing Online Speed Camera Warnings to be Banned
People who reveal the location of Swiss speed cameras on the internet face fines of up to 10,000 francs ($10,700), under new laws.
Like rebellious drivers everywhere, Swiss motorists have been using the internet to stay ahead of the police. Facebook group ‘Mobile radar reports: Switzerland’ has about 14,000 users. But a new law passed this week by the Swiss parliament will make it illegal to share information online about the location of speed cameras.
With 91 votes in favour and 72 against, the National Council approved the ban on speed camera warnings. The ban will come into effect in 2013 at the earliest.
According to socialist Edith Graf-Litscher, the spokeswoman for the national commission that proposed the ban, individuals will still be allowed to warn each other about cameras, but it will be illegal to make a public announcement on the subject on Facebook or Twitter.
Both the Swiss People’s Party and the Radical Party rejected the ban.
“This is a totally disproportionate decision,” said Radical Party councillor Markus Hutter, pointing out that even the police erect speed camera warning signs and that GPS navigation systems often alert drivers when they are approaching cameras.
64% of the French against the speed cameras
By Europe1.fr with AFP
The French are opposed to 64% with the installation of 400 additional automatic radar speed cameras announced by the government these last days, according to a Ifop survey to appear in Western Sunday France.
On these 64%,36% disapprove “completely” this measurement, rejected by all the categories of population and all the electorates, according to the survey institute. “The opposition to this measurement is sharper in rural area where one is most tributary of the car” with 74% of rejection, of which 45% disapprove “completely”, Ifop raises.
On the other hand, 61% of probed approve “the presence of ethylotest in each car” but among them, only 22% adhere to it “completely”.
“Approved by a majority of sympathizers of the PS (61%) and UMP (72%), measurement does not convince the sympathizers of the FN (42%) which confirms their character protester here”, underlines Ifop.
Survey carried out by questionnaire car-managed on line of December 6 near a sample of 1.002 people representative of the French population 18 years old and more. The representativeness of the sample was ensured by the method of the quotas.
400 New Speed Cameras for France
Breath test kits to be in every vehicle
DRIVERS will have to carry a breath test kit in their vehicles from next spring as part of new measures by President Sarkozy to cut the roads death toll.
Other measures include 400 new speed cameras, the introduction of new-generation radar units that work from moving police cars and measures to bring in automatic speed reduction systems in cars. The president also said he was looking at creating a national day for road death victims.
In all, 3,980 people died on the roads in the 12 months to October 31 and Sarkozy has little chance of meeting his own target of under 4,000 deaths in 2011. The new measures, he said, are aimed to bring the death rate down to 3,000 by the end of 2012.
Sarkozy said speed cameras were not "easy budget boosters" and that all the money from fines was put back into road safety.
Radar Detectors in France could be Swamped
RADAR detectors could soon become useless annoyances for drivers after prefects were instructed to vastly increase the number of "danger zones" that they are now signalling.
Used by six million drivers in France, detectors are now supposed to warn of dangerous roads to comply with the government's ban on radar detectors. However, Le Parisien says it has seen documentation that prefects have been told to create a new list of "danger zones" with 10 times the number of alerts.
That would mean detectors going off every time there was a significant change in road conditions: for example, a 70kph section of road where the rest is 90kph.
The newspaper said a department with 25 speed cameras would have 250 "danger zones" - with only one in 10 containing a speed trap.
From November 28 drivers were supposed to recalibrate their detectors - if possible - by connecting them to their internet-enabled computer to download new "danger zone" maps. Once done, the detectors would no longer signal the exact location of speed traps, merely danger zones covering 4km on a motorway, 2km on country roads and 300m in built-up areas.
However, many cheaper detectors with preloaded maps either do not accept updates or are never updated as drivers have not paid the extra. In addition detectors from high-end manufacturers Garmin and Tom Tom are unchanged as they have not been involved in the discussions with the government.
The new instructions to prefects suggests that wherever there is a warning sign on the road this should be considered a danger zone - and there are 28 such signs in the Code le la Route. This new list will be published in the middle of this month.
Thierry Latger, of the highway and utility engineers union Snitpect-FO, told the newspaper that prefects had been given "absurd" criteria to work with and had not been given enough time to compile a proper list of the roads with real dangers. Road safety was not the motive, he said, just camouflaging the position of speed cameras.
Speed Cameras Attacked in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands
Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands see expanding and explosive attacks on speed cameras.
Vigilantes exploded the casing of a speed camera in Koenigsdorf, Germany on Wednesday using expanding builder's foam. Rhine-Erft District Police reported a passing patrol spotted a man intending to use expanding foam to destroy a speed camera in Aachen on Friday. Officials said they do not know who was responsible for the more recent incident. British motoring columnist and BBC Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has advocated the use of foam as the most effective and safest means of destroying a speed camera.
Last year, vigilantes put 44 speed cameras out of commission in Belgium. That represents a 238 percent increase over the number of incidents in 2009. Over the past five years, 49 speed cameras have been set on fire, 19 have been shot and 47 have been spraypainted, HLN reported.
Last week on Sunday a team of explosives removal experts were injured in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a speed camera in Voorschoten, The Netherlands. A homemade explosive went off around 7:30am as a bomb disposal team went to investigate a report of an unusual device attached to the automated ticketing machine,
France - Spray Paint Puts Camera Out of Action
FRANCE Nov 2011
In Aisne, vigilantes used blue spraypaint last weekend to cover the lenses of three speed cameras on the RN2, L'Union reported. One camera at Largny-sur-Automne and two in Coyolles were disabled. A similar attack in the area took out a camera on the RN31 in May.
How much damage does this type of damage cost? To replace a unit set on fire, it takes about 80 000 euros each. For the treatment of tags and other graffiti, the bill is between 2000 and 3000 euros. In any case, it is the drivers who are footing the bill, since the fines are used to finance the maintenance of machines.
Finally, abusing these "speed camera ticket machines" can be very expensive. The risks are marked on thebox of each radar: "Any damage or deterioration of this equipment is an offense punishable by a sentence of three years imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. The act of drawing or spray painting is punishable by a fine of 7500 euros and a sentence of community service. "