In the United Kingdom, an application has recently made it possible to determine if a car is speeding, by filming it from a smartphone. In France, in the current state, impossible to use it. This denunciation tool could not lead to any verbalization. Explanations.
An application offered for a little over a month to British users of Android mobile devices is causing a stir across the Channel. Called Speedcam Anywhere, it allows you to transform your smartphone into a radar, recording the speed of a filmed vehicle to generate a report on a possible traffic violation. In France, such an application could not be used legally to report speeding to the authorities.
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A Pro version, or the premium denunciation
Using Speedcam Anywhere is very simple. All you have to do is stand at a fixed point and film a passing car for about two seconds. With a latest generation phone, the range of the device is 15 to 20 meters. The images are then sent to dedicated servers, where an artificial intelligence calculates the speed of the vehicle by cross-checking information such as the dimensions of the model (recognized from the license plate), the location, and the passage time between the two axles at a fixed point. The Basic version of the application has a margin of error of approximately 10%; its Pro version less than 3 km/h.
The report thus created is sent to the user and stored by Speedcam Anywhere. It does not generate a verbalization, and is not transmitted to the authorities by the publisher. But the creators of this software do not exclude that the forces of order could call on them one day, and say they want to help users to “gather evidence“of offense for possible investigations. They also claim to want to help the police identify areas in which speeding is frequent so that they can install speed cameras there. This application, seen by many as a denunciation tool, is obviously controversial in the United Kingdom, to the point that the hateful comments posted about him push his managers to remain anonymous. ‘air.
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No value for PV in France
In terms of its business model, Speedcam Anywhere is based on a credit system. £14.99 (€18.01) buys 1,000 credits, enough to pay for 1,000 recordings in Basic mode or 100 in Pro mode. The app is only offered on the UK Google Play Store at the moment. Its iOS version is ready but Apple does not distribute it. The publisher of the program wishes to soon offer its creation in the United States. Nothing is said about possible French ambitions. With us, any verbalization for speeding based on a Speedcam Anywhere report would be excluded. Maître Gatien-Hugo Riposseau, lawyer, explains: “For this to be possible in France, it would be necessary to modify the texts allowing the observation of offenses which is (hopefully) not ready to happen.“
““Speeding can only be detected using approved speed cameras. Their use is reserved for law enforcement. The verbalization which follows is carried out by an agent or a judicial police officer.”“
And to add:This type of application would also have to be approved, which in my opinion is not possible for technical reasons since the application is necessarily dependent on the smartphone on which it is installed; however, the smartphone in question may be faulty, incorrectly configured, etc.“
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Unreliable recording mode
The lawyer recalls in passing that: “The radar cars, although driven by employees of private companies, are equipped with approved devices and the verbalization of offenses is carried out under the control of the police, the on-board radars only noting the speeding ” and :
““These devices are also subject to periodic checks by an independent body..”“
Conversely, “the smartphone (…) cannot offer the guarantees of proper functioning specific to devices intended for speed measurement“, he says. Despite this, the proposal could find its audience in France if the application were offered there, as evidenced by the durability of certain sites already allowing to denounce, images and registration number in support, motorists presented as dangerous, bad or uncivil.
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