Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/69/6924.asp

5/4/2020

France, Italy: Speed Cameras Vigilantism Slows
French government sees steep drop in photo ticket profit from vigilante action in 2019. Only a handful of cameras were attacked last week in Europe.

French government budget figures released last week showed the number of speed camera tickets dropped 25 percent in 2019. As the Yellow Vest protest movement was destroying dozens of speed cameras every week, just 12.6 million tickets were issued, generating 760 million euros (US $845 million) in profit -- far less than the billion euro profit the government had expected. The budget for 2020 could be even worse with the roads being emptied of traffic as motorists are forced to stay at home under government orders during the virus scare.

The good news for officials is that the lockdown has slowed the pace of vigilante action against automated ticketing machines. On Thursday, the pole-mounted turret speed camera on the RD104 in Les Assions was set on fire for the third time so far this year. In Trosly-Breuil, the speed camera on the RN31 was torched on April 27. In San Daniele Po, Italy, vigilantes on Wednesday cut down the speed camera operating on the Strada Provinciale 33 and tossed the remains off a bridge to the ground below.