Speed-trap detectors are ‘lethal’, warns de Palacio

By Peter Chapman

Date: 05/02/04

GOVERNMENTS must put the brakes on speeding motorists and prevent them using detectors to evade radar traps, European Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has warned.

The detectors - available on websites across the EU and over the counter in countries such as the Netherlands - let drivers know when they are about to be clocked breaking the speed limit, giving them a chance to slow down.

They are popular with sales representatives, truckers and other professional drivers for whom speeding fines are an occupational hazard.

De Palacio said: "Around one-third of all fatal and serious accidents are caused by speeding drivers.

"People making use of these detectors normally do not intend to stick to the speed limit. They want to know when they run a risk of being fined, so they can continue speeding between control checks."

In a recent policy blueprint designed to cut carnage on EU roads, the Commission vice-president urged member states to take action against a raft of safety threats.

In particular, she wants governments to establish "effective, proportionate and dissuasive" sanctions for speeding, drink-driving and non-use of seat belts, as well as "acts which aim at hindering or circumventing enforcement of such infractions".

"The Commission considers that making use of speed radar detectors is an act covered by this recommendation, as it seeks to circumvent enforcement."

The EU executive plans to unveil binding laws within three years if trends show that a target to halve road deaths by 2010 will not be met.

Loyola de Palacio, European Commissioner for Transport, wants Member States to prevent car drivers from using speed radar detectors.