The prohibition of communicating certain real-time data may, however, be applied by the prefects in the case of road controls involving the interception of vehicles, referenced Wednesday the members of the Constitutional Council.
Motorists are allowed to continue to share road information, including speed controls, throughout the French road network, with the exception of law enforcement controls involving the interception of vehicles. Decided the Constitutional Council Wednesday, November 24th.
The institution of rue de Montpensier had been seized of a priority question of constitutionality by the Council of State in September, following a request of the manufacturer of driving assistance systems and the Coyote navigation.
The company disputed an article not yet applied by the Highway Code (law of 24 December 2019), which provided for the total prohibition, on the occasion of certain road controls, “to rebroadcast the messages and indications issued by the Users of this service “, even if these indications did not have any relationships with the controls.
This prohibition, under the control of the prefects, was only worth on the departmental roads. Under a provision of the European Union, prefects could not prevent exchanges between motorists on motorways and national roads. Always with the exception of the controls involving the interception of vehicles by the police.
“Reaching freedom of expression”
At a hearing of the Constitutional Council relocated in Bourges on 16 November, Coyote’s lawyers had criticized these provisions of “infringing freedom of expression and communication”. An infringement that would neither be necessary nor adapted or proportionate to the objective pursued by the legislator, according to them.
In its decision, the Constitutional Council recalled Article 11 of the Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen of 1789:
“The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most valuable rights of man.”
“This right involves the freedom to access these services and express yourself,” he notes in a statement.
The prohibition of communicating certain real-time information may, however, be applied by the prefects in the case of road controls involving the interception of vehicles, recalled the members of the Constitutional Council.
This blockage can therefore be pronounced temporarily by the prefects for alcohol and narcotics controls, for certain identity checks, excavations of vehicles and baggage, for research for crimes or crimes punished by Less three years of imprisonment or the search for people on the run. The Constitutional Council accurate:
“This prohibition applies only to these limited listed controls, the number of which are not the speed controls.”
The Coyote Company has welcomed this decision that allows motorists to “continue to learn in real time of the hazards of the road”. Its Director General Benoît Lambert sees “an additional official recognition of the contribution of our tools to road safety”.