Get ready to take your foot off the gas! The year 2025 will mark a turning point in road surveillance in France with a massive deployment of radar cars which will extend to almost the whole of France. Exit the preserved areas of the South, these unmarked vehicles will now crisscross the entire territory, with the exception of Île-de-France and Corsica.
The current fleet of 400 vehicles will expand considerably to reach 550 radar carsincluding 126 brand new ones intended for the three new regions concerned: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. A lucrative contract worth 34.48 million euros over two years was also awarded to the company OTC to lead this offensive.
The drivers of these vehicles, recruited by private companies for a salary of 1,700 euros gross monthly, follow precise routes defined by the prefectures. Their mission: mainly to track serious speeders, responsible for the most serious accidents.
These vehicles are extremely efficient: they can flash in both directions of traffic without the slightest visible flash thanks to their infrared system. And their profitability is chilling: according to the Drivers' Defense League, each radar car can bring in up to 390,000 euros per year.
Drivers in the South, so far spared, will have to get used to this new presence on their roads from spring 2025. These vehicles will mainly be deployed on roads limited to 80 or 90 km/h, where speeding are the most common.
-How to spot radar cars?
Good news! These unmarked vehicles are not completely undetectable. First, the State often uses the same models of vehicles. Small additional detail: all run on diesel, the radar system being too energy-consuming for the electric versions. The most frequently used vehicles are the following models:
- Ford Mondeo
- Citroen Berlingo
- Peugeot 508 and 308
- Volkswagen Passat 7 and 8
- Seat Leon
- Skoda Octavia
- Volkswagen Golf.
The front number plate of the radar cars also allows them to be detected. In fact, it is mounted on a particular reflective plastic support, with a distinctive font, narrower and rounded than normal. Finally, its specific equipment is obvious. A black box sits on the dashboard, accompanied by two small cameras on the windshield. At the rear, if the window is not tinted, a black square with two small cameras betrays their presence, particularly visible at night thanks to its LEDs.
Stay safe
Although they may seem like a motorist's nightmare, these control vehicles have a fairly wide margin of tolerance so as not to catch dazed drivers. The tolerance margin for these vehicles is 10 km/h for limits below 100 km/h, and 10% beyond. Clearly, you will not be flashed in town before 61 km/h, nor on expressways before 124 km/h. We are therefore closer to the driver than to the slightly dazed driver.
- In 2025, 550 radar cars will crisscross France, including 126 new ones in the South
- These vehicles can flash in both directions and bring in up to 390,000 euros per year
- To spot them, look out for the specific models, the black housing on the dashboard and the distinctive license plate. But above all, stay safe!
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