Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3414.asp

2/27/2011
Mother Nature, Vigilantes Foil Traffic Cameras
Speed cameras attacked in England, France, Germany. Cold weather keeps them from working in Poland.

Taped cameraIn Poland, the popular Fotorapid brand of speed camera is being defeated by cold weather. The fixed units are designed to function at temperatures as low as -30 Celsius (-22 F) when optional heaters are installed in the housing. On the other hand, the mobile units are only rated to work at -10C (14 F). That means in cities like Warsaw where the weather forecast is calling for a low of 12 F, portable speed cameras cannot be used, Onet.pl reported.

At 9:30pm Tuesday in Shropshire, England an attempt to burn the speed camera on the A5 between Shrewsbury and Owestry failed, the Shropshire Star reported. A tire and a gas can placed in a trash bin was used to accelerate the blaze, but damp grass kept the device from catching fire.

In Bouloc, France vigilantes targeted a speed camera on Tuesday at 11:30pm before the device on departmental road 4 had a chance to issue its first ticket. Police have no idea who might be responsible for setting it on fire, La Depeche reported.

In Wuppertal, Germany vigilantes destroyed a traffic camera on Markischen road near the A46 on February 15. At around 1:50am, the case of the automated ticketing machine was cut open and an incendiary device thrown in. Residents heard an explosion that marked the destruction of the camera, Westdeutsche Zeitung reported.