Private unmarked radar cars will circulate on roads in all but 10 mainland French departments by the end of 2025, after many departments in the south began using them this year.
Haute-Savoie (October 15) and Lozère (November 7) will be the latest to introduce the vehicles to catch speeding drivers, following departments such as Isère, Hautes-Pyrénées and Tarn which rolled out services at the start of the month.
From November 7, only departments in Corsica and the capital ÃŽle-de-France region (Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines; Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise) will not have private radar vehicles operating.
There are currently no plans to introduce the vehicles to roads in these two regions.
Widespread implementation
Rule changes in 2018 under the ‘Dexter’ banner allowed for private companies to partially take over the role of catching speeding drivers in departments.
This is done using unmarked vehicles with speed-detection devices installed onboard.
While police vehicles still can – and do – undertake such tasks, they are supplemented by privately-operated vehicles.
The changes were made to free up police for more pressing tasks, and reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on French roads.
The routes private vehicles operate on are pre-determined by local authorities, and often constitute roads with high accident numbers.
Several routes are usually covered, with vehicles switching the routes they drive along, and authorities able to change which roads are monitored.
These vehicles usually patrol for between five to six hours per day, but unlike police vehicles, only one driver is needed as the speed-capturing software installed on the vehicle is automatic.
They are also free to operate at any point in the day, so can operate late at night.
However, the vehicles are limited in certain ways.
Firstly, they can only issue a fine when moving (unlike police radars which can be set up in a stationary fashion) and cannot pull vehicles over for infractions.
In addition, the margin of error for speeding is double to that in place for fixed radars and from police vehicles.
How many cars, and where?
Currently in France, there are two main operators of private radar cars.
Mobiom works in the north, west, and south-west of the country, with OTC in the south and south-east.
OTC has gradually been introducing the vehicles across departments in the south this year, including in Lozère and Haute-Savoie.
Many departments in the north have seen radars installed for several years.
Official information on these private vehicles,such as their routes and the number of vehicles in the fleet, can be hard to come by.
Some departments are transparent and share details through official communication and social media, whereas others are more secretive about their introduction.
It means that exact data on how many cars are operating in each department is hard to find.
In addition, vehicles can often be switched between departments within zones, making tracing them – and calculating the number of vehicles operating in a department at any given time – even more difficult.
Between these two companies, France is split into three ‘zones’ where radar cars operate:
‘Zone Nord’
Operated by Mobiom, the north zone comprises the Hauts-de-France, Normandy, Grand-Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions.
The company operates 123 vehicles between these departments.
It has the contract to operate in the area until December 2026, although this can be extended on an annual basis up to December 2029.
‘Zone Ouest’
Likewise operated by Mobiom, this zone constitutes the Brittany, Centre-Val-de-Loire, Pays de la Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions.
Within the 27 departments, there are a reported 102 private radar vehicles.
The tender runs until August 2026, and can reportedly be extended once more after this for an additional 12 months.
‘Zone Sud’
The largest zone, it is operated by OTC and includes departments in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur regions.
Once all departments in the regions see private radar vehicles introduced, 126 of them will operate in the area.
The tender lasts until December 2026, but can be extended twice, each time for a 12-month period.
