Burned red lights or illegal parking are now fined everywhere in the city thanks to cameras
“I was on a visual patrol on the Pont-Neuf when I saw a car coming up the bus lane coming from Saint-Cyprien. By zooming in, I was able to raise his license plate ”, explains a municipal policewoman, installed behind one of the screens of the video PC of the Toulouse town hall. In a few days, this motorist will receive in his mailbox a ticket for violation of the Highway Code, without ever having seen the slightest trace of a uniform on his road the day he committed a sprain.
Until now, nearly 11,000 PV were already dressed each year via the approximately 470 CCTV cameras of the Pink City against those who violate the parking rules in the hypercentre. Since the beginning of the year, the territory of the videotape has been extended to the entire territory of the city, and the violations noted also concern traffic.
“Discernment” in offenses
Whether it is for a burned out fire, a misinterpretation, a mobile phone while driving or even an unfastened seatbelt, Toulouse motorists caught by virtual patrollers are liable to fines ranging from 35 to 135 euros. “We show good judgment. For example, for awkward parking, we wait a few minutes, we consider whether there is traffic, if he is not authorized to stop within the framework of the delivery charter ”, assures another municipal police officer, focused that morning on Boulevard Pierre-Sémard which runs alongside the station.
A black point concerning traffic and inconvenient parking: motorists parking in double files and regularly creating traffic jams but also risk of accident. “The video verbalization is very complementary to the action of the agents in the field. Its objective is to find offenses that prevent the flow of traffic, but also to ensure the safety of users of soft modes. The idea is not to bludgeon, but there is a real need to enforce the rules of living together. The bus route is for buses, cycle paths for bicycles, ”insists Emilion Esnault, the deputy mayor in charge of Security, who thus hopes to be able to reach the authors of urban rodeos or wedding convoys careless of the rules.
Twenty black spots are thus closely scrutinized, whether it be Matabiau, rue Bayard, the boulevard belt, or even the Pont-Neuf. In recent years, video operators have often caught free riders parked in an anarchic fashion on the cycle paths of the Saint-Cyprien district. “A PV shot of 135 euros, today there are hardly any more, and cyclists can circulate in a more secure manner”, assures Christophe Mielnik, the operational director of the municipal police.
Towards automated control of parking payment
In a few months, this verbalization video will be supplemented by a new tool: the LAPI, a system installed in municipal police vehicles and which allows license plates to be read in order to know if the car owners have done well. paid for their parking. “We know that there is a relatively low respect for parking: only 30% of motorists pay their parking meter. The idea is to use the LAPI to run the parking lot and free up time for the staff of public highway surveillance agents, and to enforce the blue zones or parking on PRM sites, ”says Emilion Esnault.
The first two devices will arrive in the next few days and will initially be blank tested. Before commissioning before the end of the first semester.