Behavioral fires are now legal

First of all, do you know the behavioral fires ? Also called reward lights or smart lights, these devices have a very simple method and principle: they turn red when you exceed the limit, or they return to green when you are driving at just the right speed. So you will have understood it, it is not really rocket science, and you must have already come across them during your life as a motorist. If they do not differ from a “real” red light, their location can however give you a small clue as to the fact that they are behavioral lights, since they are generally installed in streets and not. at an intersection. Be that as it may, these devices are very much appreciated by the mayors, many of whom opt for this solution considered more acceptable and much more educational than a simple automatic radar, then really forcing motorists to slow down, without incurring a strong penalty. limited impact.

Except that, reward fires were previously illegal. Indeed, the Minister of the Interior had confirmed this information last year, in response to a question asked by Senator Michel Raison. Gérald Darmanin then said that the regulations did not provide for “ not the purpose of moderating speed for traffic lights “, Inviting communities to” turn them off or give them a classic traffic light use ». He had in fact stated that “ indeed, the use of signaling equipment that does not comply with the regulations engages their responsibility and the criminal liability of their representatives in the event of a traffic accident. “. We remember, however, that experiments were then in progress, in order to test these fires in perfectly supervised conditions, in order to judge their safety and their real usefulness. The government then affirmed that if these tests were conclusive, these infrastructures could then be deployed throughout France.

A new legal framework

It seems that the promise has finally been kept, since in recent days, behavioral fires are now legal. A news confirmed by the publication of a decree on April 16 at the Official newspaper, ratifying this new legal framework for this educational system. However, not everything is allowed, as specified by the government, which has therefore set some rules to be observed, the first being that these fires must be in the form of a reward and not a sanction. Concretely, it should be understood that the light is red in the absence of a car, and that it only turns green when the limitation is respected by the arriving car. When no vehicle is detected, the light then switches back to red, via a classic green-orange-red cycle. Note that these infrastructures must be installed in built-up areas, ” outside pedestrian crossings, intersections and away from the built-up area entrance sign ».