Nasty speed trap at the customs house Police fine 211 drivers with "well-planned rule ambush"
Because they disregarded a little-known traffic rule, more than 200 drivers become "speed offenders". The Jura cantonal police flashed them in front of a customs office.
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- During a speed check in a border hamlet in the Jura, 211 of 234 drivers were speeding and were fined.
- The radar device was located in front of the customs house. A reduced speed limit applies there.
- However, the speed limit was not signposted and probably only a few drivers were aware of it.
Ignorance is no defense against punishment, they say. As the portal "L'Alsace" reports, 211 drivers in the Jura border hamlet of Lucelle near Delsberg experienced this in practice.
The Jura cantonal police set up a mobile radar unit in the village at the end of October and checked 234 vehicles within a few hours. The vast majority of drivers, mainly cross-border commuters from neighboring Alsace, were speeding - probably without even knowing it.
Reduced speed limit was not signaled
The reason for this: the speed camera was in front of the customs house. The speed limit there is not 50 km/h, as is usual in urban areas, but only 20 km/h. The reduced speed limit is not signaled in Lucelle. The speed limit sign at the entrance to the town, a few dozen meters before the spot in question, allows a maximum speed of 50 km/h.
However, Article 31 of the 1979 Ordinance on Road Signalling states that a customs post may be passed at a maximum speed of 20 km/h. However, you need to know this first. But you have to know that first.
"Well-planned ambush" by the cantonal police
However, as I said, ignorance is no excuse for punishment, so those caught speeding have to pay some hefty fines. One woman who was caught speeding at 38 km/h was fined 250 francs. Others even face having their driving license revoked because they were speeding at more than 21 km/h - in other words, they were "speeding" through the town at 41 km/h.
For Jean-Luc Johaneck, President of the cross-border workers' union CDTF, the operation was a "real, well-planned ambush". The location and timing of the speed camera operation were not chosen at random. According to one of those affected, the police officers were not acting to raise awareness, but wanted to make the cash registers ring and set an example.
