4/19/2009
Vigilantes Disable Cameras in France, GermanyFrench and German speed cameras are burned, grabbed and smashed.
Speed cameras are being scorched, smashed and stolen in France and Germany. South of Dijon, France last Sunday at around 5pm, for example, a group of vigilantes set fire to a speed camera. The device, located on the 996 between Chevigny and Longvic, was only moderately damaged before a fire brigade extinguished the blaze, according to Le Bien Public. On Friday, repair crews were dispatched to repair a pair of speed cameras in the northwestern town of Quimperle. Unidentified vigilantes had smashed the glass on the devices, rendering them incapable of issuing tickets, Ouest France reported.
In Germany, vigilantes are taking speed cameras. On April 4 at around 8pm, two men grabbed the flash unit from a mobile speed camera operation set up on Schwartauer road in the northern city of Luebeck. According to HL-Live, the radar operator claimed to have given chase to the vigilantes, but those responsible have neither been caught nor identified. On the previous day, vigilantes had grabbed a mobile speed camera base unit out from under a ticketing operation in Wasserburg. The Wasserburger Zeitung reported that the device was worth 2600 euros (US $3400). Police are more upset by the loss of ability to issue tickets that can be worth up to 184 euros (US $240) each.
