These unmarked cars drive as close as possible to motorists in order to detect speeding. To better identify them, here are the models most often used.
Every year in France, speeding represents the major cause of road offenses. To optimize these controls, the State relies heavily on the “Dexter” program, which regulates the outsourcing of radar cars to private companies. The concept is simple: drivers employed by private companies travel in unmarked vehicles as close as possible to motorists. Thus, they automatically measure the speed of users who overtake them or whom they pass, without any intervention from the driver. This system is deployed in the name of road safety to ensure continuous compliance with limitations (7 days a week, 24 hours a day) and to encourage constant vigilance.
But these so-called “ghost” vehicles are not completely undetectable to motorists who have the eye. They notably have a bulky black box (the infrared flash) visible on the dashboard, an opaque black rectangle located at the rear window (for night shots), as well as specific front license plates.
Also, according to the specialized site Radar-Prive.fr and Radars-Auto.com, the State has a fleet of around 250 vehicles outsourced to private companies. Among the most used and officially listed models in the field: the Citroën C5 Aircross. It is the flagship model and the most deployed with more than 80 vehicles put into circulation. The Ford Mondeo (generation 4) is a widely used model across all privatized departments, as is the Volkswagen Golf (mainly in the Golf 7 version), the Peugeot 308 (generation 2, sedan and SW station wagon), the Ford Focus (generations 3 and 4) and the Volkswagen Passat (generations 7 and 8). Motorists have also noticed the presence of the Seat Leon (generation 3), or the Skoda Octavia model (generation 3, sedan and station wagon). As for the Peugeot 508, used as an unmarked road sedan, it travels mainly on major roads and expressways.
Finally, the Citroën Berlingo (generation 2) was one of the first radar-based MPVs used. If it has been almost completely replaced by the new C5 Aircross, the very latest residual models are finishing their last kilometers on the roads. Finally, let us remember that other more secondary or older models, sometimes inherited from police and gendarmerie fleets, also circulate outside this top 12, such as the Renault Mégane, the Citroën Berlingo or even the Peugeot 208.
To travel peacefully, the best advice remains rigorous compliance with speed limits, or the legal use of driving assistance applications (such as Coyote or Waze) which, although they are prohibited from indicating the precise location of a mobile radar in motion, effectively signal “temporary control zones” reported by the community.
