Contraventions noted by automatic speed cameras are the cause of the vast majority of withdrawals of points from motorists’ driving licenses. However, these offenses are questionable. How to do it efficiently? The Argus gives you the procedure to follow.
The first automatic radar was inaugurated on October 27, 2003. Since then, this type of device has continued to multiply in the four corners of the territory and should reach a total number of 4,500 by the end of 2022 according to the latest government announcements. They are now used to penalize speeding and failure to stop at a traffic light. This list should also seriously grow in the years to come. The infringements observed by the various automatic radars, whether fixed or mobile, can all be disputed with a success rate close to 100%. The reason is simple: the driver is almost never identified!
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The rules for contesting
Two articles of the Highway Code make it possible to justify this type of dispute.
First of all, article L. 121-1 of the Highway Code sets out the general principle that the driver of a vehicle can only be condemned in the event of formal identification! However, the photographs taken by automatic speed cameras only very rarely make it possible to identify the driver of the vehicle. Radars flashing from the rear prevent any identification of the offender, while those that flash the front of the vehicle focus on its license plate and not on its driver.
Article L. 121-3 of the Highway Code introduces a major shift in the principle of article L. 121-1. It provides for the pecuniary liability for the fine incurred by the holder of the registration certificate (grey card) in the absence of identification of the driver of the vehicle.
The holder of the registration card of the vehicle who disputes the offense will therefore be released, for lack of proof of the identity of the driver at the time of the crackling of the flash. No points will be deducted from his driving license, but he will nevertheless have to pay a fine, the amount of which will be set by the judge. Only, to win the case and thus avoid any loss of points, it is imperative to respect certain rules.
Dispute procedures
- Delays
The motorist has a period of 45 days from the dispatch of the notice of contravention to file an appeal for exemption with the officer of the Rennes public prosecutor’s office, who alone has jurisdiction for the offenses observed by automatic speed cameras. The request for communication of the pictures taken by the radar does not suspend the time limit for contesting. If this deadline is not met, a notice of increased fixed fine will then be issued, and a new contestation period of 30 days to 3 months from the date of sending of this notice will be open to anyone who intends to contest the offence.
- Consignment
It is first necessary to record, as the case may be, the amount of the fixed or increased fixed fine applicable to the offense in question. This consignment can be made either by check made out to the order of the public accountant, or by fine stamps returned with the consignment stub, all addressed to the accountant of the treasury indicated on the notice of contravention. Payment of the consignment can also be made by telephone or by telepayment on the Internet, on the site amendes.gouv.fr.
- The request for exemption
The challenge can then be made either by mail or online on the website of the National Agency for the Automated Processing of Offenses (ANTAI). If the dispute is made by mail, it will be necessary to send it by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt (LRAR) to the officer of the Rennes public prosecutor’s office.
It will be necessary to send the original of the notice of contravention, accompanied by the proof of payment of the consignment and finally the form for request for exemption completed and ticked in the box “Case n° 3: other reason”. In practice, it is preferable to write a separate document from the exemption request form, explaining the reason for the dispute. In this case, the holder of the registration certificate must simply state that he was not driving his vehicle on the date, place and time at which the offense was observed.
In the event of an online dispute on the ANTAI website, it will then be necessary to complete the information requested, justify payment of the deposit and state the same reason for the dispute.
- The aftermath of the dispute
The public prosecutor to whom the appeal is addressed will check whether the conditions for admissibility of the request have been met (time limit, information required, attached documents). If he deems it inadmissible, he will request payment of the fine again. If the challenge is considered admissible, several hypotheses are possible.
Most of the time, this type of challenge results in a penal order. This is a court decision rendered by a magistrate, without a hearing, based solely on the file. This penal order will then be notified either by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt (LRAR), or by a delegate from the prosecutor.
The originator of the dispute may also be summoned before the police court for a ruling in public hearing on the grounds for the dispute invoked. Whether the dispute is judged by the police court or by means of a penal order, the judge cannot find the author of the dispute guilty of the contravention for lack of certain identification of the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offense. . The holder of the registration certificate will therefore be acquitted of the purposes of the prosecution but declared financially liable for a fine, the amount of which will be determined by the court.
- Remedies in case of conviction
Appeals are available if the judgment or the penal order nevertheless declares the author of the challenge guilty of the offense and condemns him as such, thus resulting in the withdrawal of points from his driving licence.
It is indeed possible to oppose the penal order within 30 days of its notification, by declaration to the court registry or by recorded delivery. This opposition will then lead to the summons of the person concerned before the police court, which will rule on the merits of the dispute.
The judgment rendered by the police court may be appealed within 10 days of its pronouncement, by declaration to the court registry. However, this appeal will only be admissible if the amount of the fine pronounced is greater than €150 or if a suspension of the driving license has been ordered. However, these two conditions are not required if the contested offense is a fifth-class offence, which is the case for the excessive speeding offence.
