Pensioner makes fake speed trap to trick motorists

Fed up with the lack of respect shown to the speed limit in his village of Alès in the Gard department, the man made up his car in the colours of the gendarmerie, parked it beside the busy road, and even installed a fake radar camera to trick drivers into slowing down.

He pasted silkscreen prints on the body of the car and affixed licence plates bearing the French tricolour. To be even more convincing, he mounted the fake camera on a tripod, and connected it to the boot of his ‘police car’ with a cable.

“All that was missing was the flashing light,” the would-be policeman told France Blue. “My goal was to make people slow down.”

But while the real gendarmes might have appreciated his intent, they reminded him that it is an offence to falsely portray a vehicle as a police or military vehicle – so he had to change his car back to its original state and his false radar was destroyed.

Police also said that anyone witnessing speeding offences should let them know and real roadside checks can be organized.