Château de Jonvilliers

The French government has just announced that it is going to make speed traps trickier to foil. Supposedly it's to further reduce the number of fatal accidents. But everyone is mumbling that it's because the government needs more money.

I've talking in the past about how to spot a French speed camera. They've always been easy to anticipate, thanks to the big sign politely located on the side of the road 400 meters ahead of the camera.

Motorists have got the hang of where they are (Hint: if the brake lights of the cars in front of you all suddenly light up, then chances are there's a radar ahead) . Sat-navs and other devices alert them to upcoming speed camera locations.

So here's what the prime minister announced that the government was going to do:

1. 800 new speed cameras will be installed between now and 2012. Instead of the big warning sign upstream, a small sign indicating a speed trap zone (contrôles de radar fréquents) will be posted 1-2 km before the zone. And there could be more than one camera in the zone. 
2. 100 "average speed" cameras will be installed starting in 2011. These cameras will check your average speed as you enter and leave "sensitive area" as the government calls them and calculate your average speed. 

Both measures should spell the end to the slow down-speed up dance that everyone does today.