Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/67/6762.asp

7/29/2019

France: Speed Camera Burnings Impact GDP
Dozens of speed cameras were set on fire last week in France.

The Yellow Vest movement protests against President Emmanuel Macron and his anti-motorist policies has had a measurable economic impact. A report by the Commission on Economic Affairs calculated a drop of 0.1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product in the final quarter of 2018, with losses also stemming from reduced tourism and shopping while tens of thousands of protesters clogged the streets in major cities.

While the protests have subsided, the attacks on automated ticketing machines continued last week as five speed cameras went up in flames in the Cotes d'Armor department. On Friday, cameras in Lannebert, Plouha, Rostrenen and Saint-Nicolas-du-Pelem were torched within an hour of one another. On Thursday, vigilantes in Lamballe used tires to fuel the blaze that torched the speed camera on the RD14.

On Saturday, the speed camera on the RD178 in Vitre was set on fire. Along the same road in Balaze, the speed camera was blinded with orange paint. On Friday, vigilantes burned the newly installed speed cameras on the RD118 in Prexian along with the camera in Carcassonne. The speed camera on the D2009 in Aubiat was blinded with red spraypaint. On July 21, the speed camera on the Boulevard Robert Shuman in Limoges was bashed with an ax and then set on fire. The same device had just recently been spraypainted orange.