Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/47/4751.asp

7/27/2015
France, Germany, Hong Kong: Speed Cameras Sacked, Burned
Fire, guns, trash bags and spraypaint take out photo radar units in France, Germany and Hong Kong.

Anti-camera protest in FranceCigarette sellers in France protested restrictive government anti-smoking proposals by cutting off speed camera revenues last week. The movement kicked off in the south of France and quickly spread. The group Non Au Paquet Neutre coordinated attacks on dozens of cameras within each of the regions of Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Gironde, Meuse, Correze, Bas-Rhin and Correze. Black plastic trash bags with the protest message "they want to break my tobacconist" covered the automated ticketing machines to prevent them from generating revenue. France's legislative body last week took up a proposal to mandate that cigarettes could only be sold in plain white packaging.

On Tuesday, farmers in Brest protested government policy by destroying the speed camera on the Iroise Bridge by setting it on fire. The farmers began their protest by blocking traffic with a convoy of about sixty tractors, Cote brest reported. In Vienne, red spraypaint was used on Tuesday to disable the speed camera on the RD951 in Saint-Julien l'Ars. According to La Nouvelle Republique, this is the third time the device has been sabotaged.

In Hong Kong, a speed camera failed to prevent an accident that resulted in the device's destruction. Makers of the EasyPark cell phone app posted a photograph of the wrecked speed camera on Facebook and praised the driver's "heroic sacrifice," to the delight of more than 2000 users who liked the post. This was followed by comments such as "well done" and "good job."

In Dusseldorf, Germany, vigilantes last Monday shot a speed camera, Westdeutsche Zeitung reported. The lenses of the automated ticketing machine were shattered just one week after being covered with spraypaint.