New overhead gantries
Discussion
On my recent trip I noticed numerous new gantries being built across various dual carriageways and some autoroutes. They have several camera looking units across each lane; does anybody know what they are for? Is it their equivalent of ANPR? Most were still 'being set-up', but some seemed to be operational.
I also see that they have started painting a letter 'R' in a white triangle on the road surface ahead of some, but not all, of the otherwise unmarked speed cameras.
I also see that they have started painting a letter 'R' in a white triangle on the road surface ahead of some, but not all, of the otherwise unmarked speed cameras.
ruhall said:
On my recent trip I noticed numerous new gantries being built across various dual carriageways and some autoroutes. They have several camera looking units across each lane; does anybody know what they are for? Is it their equivalent of ANPR? Most were still 'being set-up', but some seemed to be operational.
I also see that they have started painting a letter 'R' in a white triangle on the road surface ahead of some, but not all, of the otherwise unmarked speed cameras.
Like this?I also see that they have started painting a letter 'R' in a white triangle on the road surface ahead of some, but not all, of the otherwise unmarked speed cameras.
They're made by a biker association called "Motards en colère", in protest against unmarked cameras. Neither official nor legal, but they seem to have served their purpose since the current government has announced plans to put back all the speed camera advance warning signs that were removed by the previous one (no taxpayer money wasted there then).
Not sure about the gantries. My guess would be average speed cameras.
Thanks for that.No ANPR in France - yet !
The gantries are for average speed cameras.
The French are adept at passing ill though out laws and then having to backtrack. Look at the breathalyser fiasco.
The thinking behind replacing the speed camera warning signs is that they do at least make drivers slow down as they pass the camera which is a safer scenario than them speeding past and getting nicked or slamming on the brakes.
Paradoxically the removal of the signs has actually made a lot of people drive faster overall.
In most instances warning signs were replaced with speed displays telling you exactly how fast you were going, a lot of these have sprung up in other places too not just camera sites.
The unconsidered consequence is that people who didn't already know realised that the indication on their speedo was anything up to 10% slow so they felt safe to increase their speed accordingly.
That is a bell which cannot be unrung so even if all the warning signs get replaced by removing them in the first place and putting up the displays ultimately they made driving in France fractionally more hazardous then it had been before !
The gantries are for average speed cameras.
The French are adept at passing ill though out laws and then having to backtrack. Look at the breathalyser fiasco.
The thinking behind replacing the speed camera warning signs is that they do at least make drivers slow down as they pass the camera which is a safer scenario than them speeding past and getting nicked or slamming on the brakes.
Paradoxically the removal of the signs has actually made a lot of people drive faster overall.
In most instances warning signs were replaced with speed displays telling you exactly how fast you were going, a lot of these have sprung up in other places too not just camera sites.
The unconsidered consequence is that people who didn't already know realised that the indication on their speedo was anything up to 10% slow so they felt safe to increase their speed accordingly.
That is a bell which cannot be unrung so even if all the warning signs get replaced by removing them in the first place and putting up the displays ultimately they made driving in France fractionally more hazardous then it had been before !
The new gantries will be used for traffic monitoring as well as Specs type speed detection. There are some new Specs type systems that sit on poles at the side of the road as well now.
The white triangles painted on the road, often with the letters RT painted inside them, serve as a warning for these systems.
If you want to have an accurate database for speed cameras in France, www.tomtomax.fr is your best bet. Free as well. It is legal as Tomtommax use danger zones instead of actual camera positions.
The white triangles painted on the road, often with the letters RT painted inside them, serve as a warning for these systems.
If you want to have an accurate database for speed cameras in France, www.tomtomax.fr is your best bet. Free as well. It is legal as Tomtommax use danger zones instead of actual camera positions.
Glad to see this thread, I was going to ask the same about the gantries having seen a few on a recent trip across France. Don't like the idea of average speed cameras much, but we tend to stick within the limit now - for most trips it is fast enough and helps with the fuel economy too!
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