Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/66/6650.asp

2/18/2019
France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UK: Speed Cameras Assaulted
Yellow Vest protests and attacks on photo enforcement ebb in France while photo radar attacks pick up in England, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia speed camera on fireYellow Vest protests continued for the fourteenth straight week across France as fed-up citizens renewed their call for President Emmanuel Macron to step aside. The Macron administration's anti-motorist policies, including a gas tax hike and the lowering of speed limits enforced by speed cameras, triggered the unrest in November. While vigilantes made great strides in eliminating a majority of the photo radar devices in use, the volume of attacks and protests have ebbed.

In a handful of areas, there are no cameras left to attack. All four of the speed cameras in Caen are out of commission. Likewise, none of Thionville's nine automated ticketing machines are functioning. On average, however, four out of ten speed cameras remain active in other departments. The number of attacks on these devices is falling back to pre-Yellow Vest levels. Simple attacks are easy to fix, such as the use of spraypaint on February 11 to blind the speed camera on the RN151 in Merry-Sec.

More serious assaults were seen throughout the week. On Saturday vigilantes destroyed the speed camera on the RD20 in Ensisheim with fire. On Friday, a pair of speed cameras on the RD83 in Felon were burned beyond recognition. On Thursday, vigilantes torched the speed cameras on the ring road in Toulouse and on the D820 in Auterive. Around the same time, the RD44 camera in Sainte-Sigolene was torched. The camera on the D820 in Pompignan burned on Tuesday, as did the camera on the RN52 in Mont-Saint-Martin. On the island of Reunion, just off the coast of Madagascar, the charred remains of the speed camera on the Boulevard Lancastel in Saint-Denis were still in place, as of February 11.

Vigilantes in Staffordshire, England, attacked the speed camera on the A523 on February 9, according to the Stoke Sentinel.

In Ferrara, Italy, the speed camera on the SS309 was shot and then set on fire, La Nuova Ferrara observed. In Fusignano, vigilantes used silver spraypaint to blind the speed camera on the Via Sordina, Ravenna Today reported. In Messina, the speed camera on the A18 was ripped from its mounting and tossed into a ditch, according to Tempo Stretto.

In Al-Bahah, Saudi Arabia, a speed camera was set on fire and a video of the incident was posted on YouTube (view video).