Spike in drivers caught speeding after limit cut

Safety cameras have caught many more drivers breaking the speed limit in the month since the speed limit was cut from 90kph to 80kph.

In the Var, seven automatic radars on roads now limited to 80kph have flashed twice as often as they did when the speed limit was 10kph more, the department's prefect Jean-Luc Videlaine told regional newspaper Var Matin.

The increase in flashes - and fines - in the Var is mirrored across the country, interministerial delegate for road safety Emmanuel Barbe told another regional paper, Ouest France.

But he insisted that the radars would catch fewer drivers as they got used to the lower speed limits. "Motorists will be more careful," he said.

The government has not forecast how much it could earn in speeding fines this year, but Uuto Plus magazine has estimated that an additional €335million will be collected in speeding fines this year, following the speed limit cut. It said it is likely to see a new revenue record for speeding fines, topping even last year's earnings of €1.97billion.