The phenomenon is observed upstream of all the fixed speed cameras installed along motorways, national roads and municipal roads: when approaching a fixed speed camera, a considerable number of vehicles operate their rear lights, before turning them off just as suddenly. As if their drivers suddenly remembered that there was a speed limit to obey, before reaccelerating more suddenly. For many others, forgetting is so important that the police will have to remind them of it, in the days that follow, by asking them to pay a fine for speeding.
Faced with this observation, the competent authorities had already considered, many years ago, a more efficient system: the radar section. The first in Belgium had already been installed in 2009 at the entrances to the Cointe tunnel in Liège. With a relatively positive balance. And although it still took a few years for this system to become widespread in Belgium, the installation of section radars has experienced a real acceleration in recent years.
Especially in Flanders where there are now 300 installations to control 542 sections. On Wednesday, the Flemish Minister for Mobility, Lydia Peeters, announced that 194 additional controls would be installed at 109 sites in Flanders in 2023 alone. By the end of the year, 409 section radars will therefore make it possible to control 736 stretches of road in Flanders. In Brussels, a dozen radar sections will be active by the end of the year, seven already being.
And in Wallonia? The south of the country is a bit of the poor relation, in particular because it has fewer highways and national roads than in the north of the country. Despite the success of Cointe’s device, it was however necessary to wait until 2020 to see Wallonia acquire a second radar section. Since then, 44 have been installed: 30 on the Walloon national roads, and 15 on the motorways, managed by the federal police. This year, 30 more will be placed. “Section radars are more effective than spot radars where we often see motorists braking before reaccelerating – which is dangerous, explains the Walloon Minister for Road Safety, Valérie De Bue. Section speed cameras generate a reduction in speed even after the end of the controlled zone and significantly reduce serious accidents. In addition, they make road traffic smoother and more pleasant. These observations are confirmed by the conclusions of a study by the University of Hasselt. Section speed cameras also have the advantage of being fairer since they penalize voluntary and constant speeding.
The benefits of section radars have also been observed by the Coyote company. The company, which specializes in sharing dangers (speed cameras, traffic jams, accidents, potholes, etc.) between users, analyzed the average speed of its 1.6 million users in Belgium when approaching these speed cameras- sections. And if the average speed logically decreases before and during the radar-section, Coyote observed that motorists then maintain the same speed for the next 10 kilometers, at a minimum.
France replaces its old section radars with traditional devices
If Belgium accelerates the transition to radar sections, our French neighbors would backtrack. According to the 40 million motorists association, old or defective speed cameras are gradually being replaced by fixed speed cameras. In question: the lack of profitability of radar sections which, not only are expensive to install and maintain, but would also generate less revenue than a conventional radar, according to the association. “The disadvantage is the cost of these devices, both for maintenance and for installation: they are among the most expensive in the catalog of radars, indicates the association. Officially, Road Safety therefore justifies their progressive replacement by another type of radar by a lower economic cost… But it is actually more the profitability of these devices that worries the authorities: on average less than 5000 flashes per unit and per year , against 14000 for an autonomous radar for example. Bottom line: Section speed cameras simply don’t generate enough money from traffic tickets.”
For the association, this is an “unacceptable policy which once again puts the health of the state coffers before the safety of motorists.”