Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/71/7152.asp

9/5/2022

Saboteurs In Hawaii, Germany Thwart Traffic Cameras
Red light cameras in Hawaii are delayed by vigilante attack, while a German speed camera is bashed with its own sign.

Vigilante action has succeeded in delaying deployment of red light cameras in Hawaii. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported a test device at the intersection of North School Street and Kalihi Street was sabotaged on May 24, delaying the ability of the private contractor Verra Mobility to determine which locations would generate the greatest number of citations. Another camera at Palama Street and Vineyard Boulevard was likewise deprived of the ability to determine citation generation potential. The devices cannot be activated until November at the earliest.

Hawaii's experiments with automated ticketing machines have proved deeply unpopular. In 2000, the state awarded a photo radar contract to the troubled firm Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia, which is now part of Verra Mobility. The contract was transferred to Poltech, another now-failed Australian firm, which expected to generate $30 million from Hawaiian motorists by the time the program kicked off toward the end of 2001. Locals responded by pelting the cameras with garbage and bestowing the nickname "Talivans" on the devices. The public backlash drove lawmakers to cancel the program in December 2002.

In Erfurt, Germany, vigilantes on Sunday, August 28, pulled up a speed camera warning sign and used it to bash the photo radar device operating on the Am Wiesenhugel, according to local police reports.