PARIS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A group of French motorists who warn other drivers about police using radar to detect speeders have temporarily lost their driver's licenses.
Fifteen members of a group that posts warnings on a Facebook page won't be able to drive for a month.
Several such "radar warning" sites exist in France with a total of some 800,000 members. Removing driving privileges is seen as a test case for the other sites.
A similar battle is being waged in the U.S. The ACLU has just filed suit to defend the right to free expression by a driver who was ticketed for flashing his lights to warn other motorists about a speed trap in Missouri.
A Kansas City regulation prohibits any activity interfering with radar and other speed-checking devices. But the ACLU is arguing that driver Jerry L. Jarman Jr. was "engaged in expressive conduct," and that police violated his First Amendment right to free speech and Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and are seeking damages.
The charges against Jarman were dropped in October.
In response to another ACLU action in the state, a federal judge recently issued a permanent injunction against a law in a St. Louis suburb prohibiting drivers from flashing their headlights to warn others of nearby police and speed traps.
