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Monaco Summons The Worst Offenders Who Repeatedly Fly By French Radar Traps

Did you know that reports indicate that automatic radar traps in France have registered 100,000 offenses by vehicles registered in the Monaco between May 2018 and April 2019.

There is an eagle-eyed new Prosecutor in charge of all this in France. And he has been writing to the Monegasque Prosecutor’s Office. He is particularly attentive to cases that are repeat offenders. So 137 vehicles in Monaco are under the spotlight. Reportedly 20 of these vehicles committed at least 50 offenses. But the good news is that that is an improvement over the prior years: against the 50 in 2019 there were 57 in 2018 and 117 in 2017.

The Worst Offenders Who Fly Past French Radar Traps
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120 vehicles reportedly committed at least 10 offenses (against 158 ​​in 2018 and 214 in 2017). Will Monaco’s Prosecutor, Sylvie Petit-Leclair be impressed by the large number of offenses or by the improving trend? As a shocking reminder of the past, in 2016, one offender was reported as pushing his luck to the limit and accumulated 384 offenses alone in one year.

There is a mutual assistance agreement signed in 2005 between Monaco and France to defuse the situation. In addition in 2016 a non-binding mechanism was added for collaboration on exchange of information. The Monaco prosecutor might sift through the cases at her convenience, before POSSIBLY returning the names of the culprits to her French counterpart. The option is there!

It should not fall to Monaco to impose sanctions because the offenses being committed on French soil come under French jurisdiction. So at the moment slow improvement is being nudged along through awareness and dialogue.

The Worst Offenders Who Fly Past French Radar Traps
@Pixabay.com



And so the worst offenders can expect to be summoned by the Monaco authorities for a discussion and a reminder about respecting traffic laws. The embarrassment to be summoned like a child may act as more of a deterrent than a fine – especially for the more wealthy.
It would appear this collaboration with France is bearing fruit, since the number of offenses committed by Monaco motorists continues to decrease each year since 2016. 


There is one point on which Monaco and France are in complete agreement and that is people must drive safely. Monaco would not stand idly by if there were repeat instances of drivers endangering the public. So the campaign of shining the spotlight on the offenders continues. It’s akin to “name and shame” and it is working.

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