Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Ford
Many of us have been there. A speeding ticket isn't the end of the world, but it is still frustrating when you know you never drive over the limit.
Drivers in France have more or less gotten used to speed cameras issuing incorrect fines, as they are believed to suffer from a margin of error of up to 5 km/h (about 3 mph). According to French regulations, drivers no longer lose license points when they break the speed limit by as much as 5 km/h, but due to the camera margin error, some drivers are incorrectly clocked over this threshold.
Statistics show that only 2% of the drivers fight the speeding tickets, and a law firm believes it's all because people don't have a convenient way of doing it.
That's why lawyer Eric de Caumont launched an application whose purpose is specifically to make it straightforward and convenient for any driver to fight a speeding ticket. Called Flash Radar, the application uses OCR (a technique to extract information from a photo) and artificial intelligence to turn an uploaded image into a document that can then be challenged in court.
Drivers only need to take a photo of the ticket, upload it in the app on Android or iOS, and let the law firm take care of the rest. The company says its legal department will fight the ticket and display up-to-date information about the status of the case in the app.
As anyone would imagine, the application is free, but the process of fighting for a speed ticket is not. The law firm charges 57 Euros (approximately $62) to challenge the ticket, but considering fines in France go up to 500 Euros ($545), it's probably worth the money.
The application is currently exclusive to France and works on iPhone and Android. The company did not reveal if it plans to expand it to other European countries, but considering it's already a hit, with thousands of downloads already recorded, I wouldn't be surprised to see the idea being implemented in other regions by more law firms.
The speed cameras in France have been true money-making machines, especially considering only a very small percentage of drivers challenge the tickets. Authorities revealed that drivers paid 2 billion Euros in 2023 for traffic violations, and approximately half of the money came from fines issued by the speed cameras. It's unclear how many of the tickets challenged in court were eventually dismissed.
Meanwhile, if you don't want to break the speed limit and avoid getting a ticket, navigation apps like Waze can help. However, keep in mind that France doesn't allow Waze users to pin speed cameras on the map, so you'll see warnings for danger zones (and plenty of policemen, as this is the workaround found by local drivers to sidestep the new regulations).
Statistics show that only 2% of the drivers fight the speeding tickets, and a law firm believes it's all because people don't have a convenient way of doing it.
That's why lawyer Eric de Caumont launched an application whose purpose is specifically to make it straightforward and convenient for any driver to fight a speeding ticket. Called Flash Radar, the application uses OCR (a technique to extract information from a photo) and artificial intelligence to turn an uploaded image into a document that can then be challenged in court.
Drivers only need to take a photo of the ticket, upload it in the app on Android or iOS, and let the law firm take care of the rest. The company says its legal department will fight the ticket and display up-to-date information about the status of the case in the app.
As anyone would imagine, the application is free, but the process of fighting for a speed ticket is not. The law firm charges 57 Euros (approximately $62) to challenge the ticket, but considering fines in France go up to 500 Euros ($545), it's probably worth the money.
The application is currently exclusive to France and works on iPhone and Android. The company did not reveal if it plans to expand it to other European countries, but considering it's already a hit, with thousands of downloads already recorded, I wouldn't be surprised to see the idea being implemented in other regions by more law firms.
The speed cameras in France have been true money-making machines, especially considering only a very small percentage of drivers challenge the tickets. Authorities revealed that drivers paid 2 billion Euros in 2023 for traffic violations, and approximately half of the money came from fines issued by the speed cameras. It's unclear how many of the tickets challenged in court were eventually dismissed.
Meanwhile, if you don't want to break the speed limit and avoid getting a ticket, navigation apps like Waze can help. However, keep in mind that France doesn't allow Waze users to pin speed cameras on the map, so you'll see warnings for danger zones (and plenty of policemen, as this is the workaround found by local drivers to sidestep the new regulations).
Google News