Speed cameras to verify car insurance in severe cases
Penalties for speeding more than 50 kph over the limit have also been stepped up
France is bringing in tougher checks on extreme speeding, and uninsured drivers
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Drivers who speed excessively will soon have their insurance checked automatically, road authorities have confirmed.
Speed cameras will now be able to check the national insurance database, le Fichier des véhicules assurés (FVA), to verify if a speeding motorist is driving with valid insurance or not. The check will happen automatically in the event that a vehicle is caught doing more than 50 kph over the speed limit, road safety agency la Sécurité Routière confirmed.
The change comes as since December 29, 2025, driving at more than 50 kph over the speed limit has been considered as a ‘maximum offence’, with tougher penalties to match. Similarly, checking insurance records as a matter of course will mean that offenders who cause accidents will not escape the requirement to compensate victims.
“Insurance checks will now be carried out on vehicles caught speeding by at least 50 kph, which is the most dangerous behaviour, and likely to cause serious damage in the event of an accident,” the agency confirmed in a press release.
The FVA will be consulted “within a period of at least three days”, it said.
Penalties have been stepped up, with offenders now risking:
Speeding at more than 50 kph over the limit: €3,750 fine and three months in prison
Driving without insurance: €3,750 fine, plus the suspension or cancellation of their licence, a ban on retaking their driving test, and/or confiscation of their vehicle
The offences are considered to be separate (speeding, and driving without insurance) so someone caught doing both risks all of the sanctions at the same time (e.g. A fine of €7,500, prison, and licence or vehicle confiscation).
For now, the systematic checking of insurance records will only apply to drivers who are caught doing at least 50 kph over the limit.
“Driving without insurance is a serious offence that directly endangers the lives of others and places the cost of irresponsibility on the entire community,” said Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, junior minister to the interior minister, in a press release.
It comes after 216 people died in 2024 in accidents involving uninsured vehicles, amounting to 7% of road deaths (of which 156 of those who died were travelling in the uninsured vehicle), show figures from road safety agency l’Observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière (ONISR).
More than half a million people (515,000) drive in France without insurance, and just under 5% of vehicles that are involved in severe accidents that cause “bodily injury" are uninsured, the agency states.
