TomTom Premium - Speed Camera's - Legality in Europe...

[slicker55]

Hi Guys,

Apologies in advance, probably an old chestnut but rather be safe than sorry...

I recently purchased a TomTom Premium for use in the UK to navigate and stay on the right side of the law in relation to speed camera's etc... no problem here - perfectly legal and a common sense approach by our government to keeping our roads as safe as possible...

Now, planning a driving trip in Europe (mainly Germany and Austria) where I believe they take a different view!

I have been asking around but getting conflicting advice... emailed TomTom - waiting for a reply... tom-te-tom-te-tom ... might be waiting a good while by all accounts - LOL

In the meantime, some people tell me only dedicated speed detection equipment is illegal and this doesn't apply to the TomTom (even with camera locations enabled) because it is predominantly a GPS navigation device?

I have read the advice from TomTom but feel their careful choice of words is ambiguous, open to interpretation and does not provide a definitive answer

I am hoping there is someone on this forum who can speak from personal experience or a professional point of view

 

[canderson]

TomTom refers to, as I recall, Danger Zones (in English, that's how it translates), and their legal department has spent quite a great deal of time assuring that the primary culprits (the French) are satisfied that there is no lack of compliance with their particular regulation. If I had a European version of a TomTom handy, I'd find the regulation # in the About. Arno - dhn - either of you have it handy?

 

[Arno]

If I had a European version of a TomTom handy, I'd find the regulation # in the About. Arno - dhn - either of you have it handy?

Cannot see anything there on the GO 620.

IIRC, in France, instead of speed camera it alerts to entering and leaving Safety Zones. German members had reported that although not legal they were not aware of any prosecution. Swiss members reported that it is illegal.

I am hoping there is someone on this forum who can speak from personal experience or a professional point of view

That is why I did not reply as my information is based on second hand knowledge from assumptions made.

 

[slicker55]

Very frustrating - conflicting advice from various official sources including two leading automotive organisations in the UK and online car hire companies in Europe.

There is no confusion regarding the use of dedicated radar detection equipment in Europe - illegal period!

Just to reiterate, in this thread we are discussing the legality of GPS sat navs containing camera locations and not dedicated radar detectors

France is also quite clear referring to any devices which can alert drivers to camera locations and TomTom addresses this by referring to 'Safety Zones'.

However, the use of GPS devices containing safety camera locations remains ambiguous.

 

[Arno]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse but in a foreign country and a foreign language they may let you go with a lecture and a warning. ;->)
Driving over there I would tell them that they should sue TomTom for offering illegal (if any) information.

Pragmatically, how would they know? Definitely no suspicion if you were caught speeding and if you were not, there should be no reason to be pulled over.

 

[canderson]

@Arno
They used to have - and probably do, but I can't find it - the little notification somewhere on these devices that spelled out the specific French regulation with which they were compliant, which was the toughest one they dealt with there.
In any case, TomTom is the leading supplier of these devices in Europe, and if you look about the boards (both ours and TomTom's), we're not seeing anyone getting any grief from it.

 

[Arno]

I cannot find anything after loading the current Europe map.

For a destination I used the little town where I went for several J.S. Bach festivals, hoping the get an alert, but nothing except the obvious 'No route possible' from Toronto.