2/22/2009
UK, Italy Vigilantes Attack Speed CamerasTwo speed cameras in the Isle of Wight, UK covered in paint while a speed camera in Lombardy, Italy is destroyed.
Vigilantes in the UK and Italy disabled three speed cameras in the past week. On the Isle of Wight, a pair of automated ticketing machines on high street were doused in white paint, blinding the devices. The Isle of Wight County Press reported that the local speed camera partnership intends to repair the devices and resume issuing citations as quickly as possible.
In Tradate, a city in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, the speed camera on the Costa del Re will not be repaired so easily. A vigilante successfully pried open the device's housing on Tuesday and smashed the inner mechanism, Varese News reported. As the controversial device had generated 3000 tickets worth 400,000 euros (US $513,000) in just two weeks, its destruction will cost local officials a great deal of revenue until it is replaced.