Be Careful
With a GPS or navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze, you not only find your way, but you also see how fast you can drive and where the speed cameras and mobile checkpoints are. But these speed camera detectors are prohibited in a number of holiday destinations. You risk a high fine there.
In the Netherlands, radar detectors are prohibited. They detect speed radars via the radar waves of the speedometer. Radar detectors, which provide information about fixed speed cameras via your navigation system or an app, are allowed. In most cases, these are speed camera apps like Flitsmeister and Waze. But in some holiday destinations, even the use of radar detectors is prohibited. That’s a pity for holidaymakers who would like to be warned about speed cameras by systems like Flitsmeister and Waze. In some countries, you have to turn off your speed camera detector if you don’t want to risk a fine.
Where are radar detectors/speed camera alerts allowed and where are they not?
• France: prohibited. Flitsmeister only indicates ‘danger zones’, not speed cameras.
• Germany: prohibited. You are not allowed to use apps like Waze and Flitsmeister in the car. Even passengers can get a fine if they have a speed camera app on their phone.
• Austria and Italy: GPS equipment that uses a public database is allowed.
• Switzerland, Turkey, Ireland and Slovakia: here you are not even allowed to possess or transport a radar detector. This means that you should not actually have the app on your smartphone, whether you use it or not.
• Spain: the use and possession of a radar detector is allowed.
What fine do you risk?
That differs per country. If you use a speed camera detector in Germany and you are caught by an officer or a camera, you risk a fine of €75. But in France you can get a fine of no less than €1,500. How all that is precisely controlled is another matter.
How do you turn off your speed camera detector?
In principle, it is sufficient to deactivate the ‘report radar’ function on your navigation system. If that doesn’t work, you can remove the software of the country in question completely from the navigation system to be on the safe side.
In any case, it is best to completely remove apps with radar detectors on your smartphone, because otherwise you cannot prove that you have not used them while driving.