3/4/2019
France Raises Speed Camera Destruction EstimateA few speed cameras were destroyed in New Mexico and Italy last week, while 75 percent of cameras in France have been attacked in the past year.
Three out of every four of France's speed cameras have been destroyed or disabled since the Yellow Vest movement kicked off sixteen weeks ago. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner raised the estimate, previously set at sixty percent of cameras taken offline, during an interview last week with France 2. Castaner also tried to blame camera destruction for the increase in road accidents in January, but as reported last month, more reliable long-term government figures show road fatalities were at an all-time low during the peak of the Yellow Vest protests. Those protests continued once again this weekend with government forces using extreme force to suppress dissent.
Officials in Toulouse and Haute-Garonne confirmed that five speed cameras were destroyed in January and another nine in February for a total of fourteen taken out of service. They remain non-functional. In the Occitanie region, 138 speed cameras have been damaged.
On Saturday, the most profitable camera in Avranches, located on the N175, was destroyed by fire. The speed camera on the RD504 in Montagny was painted orange on Friday, less than three days after it had been replaced from a prior attack. White was the color of choice for the radar on the RD1017 in Liancourt-Fosse. On Wedneday, red paint blinded the speed camera on the RD934 in Bouchoir. On Tuesday, green paint kept the speed camera on the RN57 in Aubonne from issuing automated tickets. Also on Tuesday, the speed camera on the RD6113 in Labastide-d'Anjou was destroyed by fire.
Vigilantes in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, torched a speed camera van on Thursday. The automated ticketing vehicle, owned and operated by Redflex Traffic Systems, was the third photo radar van destroyed by fire in the past two years. According to the Albuquerque Journal, other photo radar vans have been egged or had their windows broken.
In Soncino, Italy, a car rammed the speed camera housing on the road to Gallignano. La Provincia di Cremona noted that the device was not being used at the time, and it will not be replaced. In Cavallino-Treporti, vigilantes used orange spraypaint to blind two of the town's five speed cameras.