Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2911.asp

9/26/2009

Spain: Government Buys More Speed Cameras
Cash-strapped Spanish government adds more hidden speed camera traps.

With only 524 speed cameras and growing budgetary needs, the government of Spain felt an urgent need to act. On Monday, Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) announced the purchase of an additional forty-three Autovelox 105 speed cameras from an Italian company, Saima Sicurezza, at the cost of 3,099,182 euros (US $4,552,600).

The cash-strapped agency would recover the amount of money invested in these new devices by placing them on the highway and issuing just six hundred tickets for driving 8 MPH over the highway limit. This figure could be achieved in less than two days in a typical deployment.

Compared to the UK, which has 1.2 speed cameras for every 10,000 in population, the latest buying spree brings Spain to a ratio of 0.14 per 10,000 -- still just one-tenth the automated ticketing density of Britain. Although Spain lacks in numbers, it makes up for this by using some of the sneakiest tactics in Europe. For example, DGT uses Citroen C5 automobiles (pictured) with speed cameras hidden in the rear passenger-side door as well as cameras hidden in roadside guardrails. In 2007, DGT announced it would deploy speed cameras in helicopters.