One department gets tough on speeding drivers
Préfecture of Ain decides to double - and in some instances triple - sanctions for motorists who break the speed limit
One préfecture in eastern France has decided to get tough on speeding.
As motoring organisations staged protests against the upcoming reduction in speed limits on certain roads from 90kph to 80kph, the préfecture in Ain has decided to increase sanctions on drivers who break the limits after it revealed that a total of 80% of fatal road traffic incidents in the department take place on secondary roads.
Authorities said that they would double or even triple sanctions for motorists who flout the law. The mayor of Château-Gaillard told BFMTV that two people were killed and another seriously injured when a car travelling at 140kph on a 90kph stretch of road was involved in a collision with another vehicle.
In future, motorists caught driving at 50kph above the speed limit in the department will face an instant six-month driving ban before any other sanctions, compared to two to four months elsewhere.
A regional road safety spokesman said that some drivers are no longer paying heed to anti-speed messages. "The only way to make them see reason is to move on to sanctions," he said.
But the Fédération française des motards en colère said: "Most accidents are related to road users' behaviour and not necessarily to speed, so here we once again see ultra-repressive measures for small effects. There is no pedagogical virtue in this measure.
In 2017, five motorists were banned from driving every day due to excessive speed in the Ain.
