The millions of users of driving assistance applications such as Coyote or Waze will be able to continue to report accidents, objects on the tracks, slowdowns and speed cameras on all roads.
The Constitutional Council, which had been seized of a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) by the Council of State in September, following a request from the manufacturer of driving and navigation assistance systems Coyote System , has just made this decision.
To justify itself, the Constitutional Council recalled Article 11 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, which affirms that "the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of the man ".
Consequently, "this right implies the freedom to access these services and to express themselves in them", notes the Council in its decision.
A little step back is in order.
Coyote challenged an article not yet applied of the Highway Code (law of December 24, 2019) which provides for the total ban, during certain roadside checks, "to rebroadcast the messages and indications issued by the users of this service" , even if these indications had nothing to do with the control.
Coyote greets the decision
The legislator had decided to take such a measure after the attacks of 2015. The idea was to make invisible certain controls on all the roads to allow the police to better track criminals without alerting them. By virtue of a provision of the European Union, the prefects cannot prevent exchanges between motorists on motorways and national roads.
Since this law, the public authorities and the manufacturers of driving assistance systems have found common ground on the invisibility cloaks of the police according to the circumstances. Prefects may temporarily block alcohol and narcotics tests, certain identity checks, vehicle and baggage searches, searches for crimes or offenses punishable by at least three years' imprisonment. or looking for people on the run. "This ban only applies to these restrictively enumerated controls, among which are not speed controls", specifies the Constitutional Council.
The Coyote company welcomed this decision which allows motorists to "continue to be informed in real time of the dangers of the road".
Its managing director, Benoît Lambert, sees it as “an additional official recognition of the contribution of our tools to road safety”.
