10/19/2006
UK: Speed Camera Vigilantes Cost MillionsVigilantes destroyed nearly $1 million in speed cameras in North Somerset, UK in twelve months.
Opponents of speed cameras cost North Somerset, UK officials £500,000 (US $938,000) between October 2005 and October 2006. Vigilantes had destroyed the ticketing machines at Herluin Way in Weston, near Cleeve Nurseries, on the A370, in Backwell and in Flax Bourton. The replacement cost for each device can run as high as £43,000 (US $80,000).
Because the Avon and Somerset Speed Camera Partnership refuses to disclose the amount of revenue generated by each camera location, it is impossible to judge how much additional money has been lost in the past year while cameras were out of service. North Somerset has eight fixed sites and 22 mobile sites. The Partnership generated £4.9 million (US $9.2 million) in the 2005 fiscal year, according to figures that include Avon and South Gloucestershire.