Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/72/7234.asp

4/1/2024

Ticketing Camera Cameras Houses Endangered Species
Clever camera opponents in the UK put endangered species law to work while photo radar devices were destroyed in France, Germany, Italy last week.

By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In London, England, vigilantes have begun attaching "bat boxes" to the ticketing cameras used to enforce the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) tax on motorists. Bats are protected under European Union and UK regulations, so disturbing a bat habitat is not allowed.

"Stop! This is a bat box," read the sign under one of the ULEZ cameras. "Bats have been observed to be using this bat box as a resting place."

A speed camera caused an accident in San Ferdinando di Puglia, Italy, on Tuesday. A man not wanting to receive an automated ticket in the mail slammed on the brakes near a photo radar trap on Strada Statale 16bis. As a result, he lost control and hit two police officers on the side of the road. They were taken to the hospital with injuries. In Herbrechtingen, Germany, vigilantes disabled the speed camera on Heidenheimer Strasse on Sunday, March 24 using green and orange paint, according to local police reports.

Vigilantes in Ambronay, France, torched the speed camera on the RD1075 on Wednesday. In Compiegne, the recently installed speed camera on the RN31 was pushed into a ditch Tuesday, unable to issue any automated tickets. In Maizieres-la-Grande-Paroisse, the speed camera on the RD619 was blinded with white spraypaint early last week.