'Stop' a four-letter word for French drivers, traffic camera's debut reveals

Maybe it is because “stop” is an Old English word that French drivers have such difficulty understanding the concept.

There is little excuse, however, for ignoring France’s Code de la Route, which clearly states motorists must come to a complete halt at a stop sign whether or not there is any other vehicle in sight.

Now police are chasing up 517 drivers who were caught on camera during just one day failing to stop at a sign in Yerres in the Essonne department south of Paris, to give them a verbal warning.

The traffic camera, the first to be installed at a stop sign in France, was being tested at a notorious road junction used by around 2,000 vehicles a day after a series of accidents, including one fatality and a serious injury to a child.

The radar has now been installed permanently. However, French police admitted “stop” still did not necessarily mean actually stopping.

Police brigadier Stéphanie Landrieux told France Bleu that motorists who “made an effort” would be let off. “We will judge whether the code has been broken, but we’ll only chase those who don’t slow down at the sign. Those who roll past the sign won’t be chased up. The aim of the radar is more to make certain drivers aware of their bad driving,” Landrieux said.

Drivers deemed to have been in contravention of the code will face a €135 fine and have four penalty points removed from their driving licence (in France points are taken away from 12, not given). Between 20 and 30 people a day are currently being fined in Yerres.

Parisians and other French city dwellers know how difficult it is to persuade motorists to stop, even at red traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Unlike in Britain, where drivers are obliged to stop if someone is waiting at a zebra crossing, the Code de la Route states vehicles must halt only if a pedestrian has stepped on to the crossing. In reality, most carry on driving.

There was, famously, only one stop sign in Paris, at the exit of a building company in the wealthy 16th arrondissement, but it has reportedly since disappeared.