The arrival of section speed cameras and the changes recorded in recent years in certain accident-prone sections of motorway in Wallonia are pushing the south of the country to review the way in which fixed speed cameras are deployed. Remember that a section radar is a radar that records the speed of a vehicle between point A and point B.
Initially, when they were installed, there were 33 boxes scattered on the motorway network and on some national roads. The principle was to rotate 16 radar heads there – those which flash motorists exceeding the authorized speed. A way of doing things that leaves doubt in the mind of the motorist who never knows if the fixed box he crosses the road is equipped with a radar. At the approach of these radars, signs warning of their presence and recalling the number of accidents as well as the number of deaths in a recent period had also been installed.
Since then, some enclosures have become unusable. Only on the portion of the N5 which connects Couvin to Gerpinnes, a box always announced was removed and the other was burned by vandals.
There should be 14 boxes left on the highways
The Walloon Minister in charge of road safety, Valérie De Bue (MR), is currently leading a reflection to reorganize the system of fixed speed cameras on the Walloon (motor) roads. “The number of boxes should decrease, but for now, it is still difficult to say which ones will be removed. The current work track evokes a number of 14 boxes. As for the heads that rotate between the boxes, there are 14 out of the initial 16, some of the equipment used being no longer in good condition. Others will therefore still disappear in the short term.explains the spokesperson for the Minister.
This reorganization is rather logical. Indeed, the installation of section radars sometimes makes certain units obsolete. “However, there are places where motorists, depending on where they arrive on the motorway, cannot be taken into account by the section radars. So in these places, the boxes retain all their relevance”, insists the spokesperson for Valérie De Bue. Moreover, “there are places where the traffic density is such that maintaining boxes is no longer justified”. It should also be noted that some boxes remain particularly useful in areas that remain particularly dangerous.
Today there are 510 permanent speed cameras on Walloon roads (all networks combined) including 29 section speed cameras. In the course of 2023, 33 new section radars will still be installed by the Walloon Region.
Stephane Tassin