11/27/2011
Germany, Saudi Arabia, UK Speed Cameras and Operators AttackedPersonal attacks step up on speed camera employees in Germany and Saudi Arabia while UK cameras burn.
In Cambridge, England vigilantes set fire to a speed camera on November 19 around 2am, the Cambridge News reported. The automated ticketing machine on Ditton Lane was destroyed. On Thursday in Sussex, vigilantes used explosives to blow up fourteen parking meters, according to The Sun.
In Dormagen, Germany on Monday at 7:30pm a man opened the door of a speed camera van and yelled at the van's driver, a 37-year-old municipal employee. The unidentified attacker, described by Nordrhein-Westfalen police as about 35 years old, then proceeded to smash the radar device.
In Saudi Arabia, attacks have grown more personal after an photo enforcement employee was killed earlier this month, Al Watan reported. In Mecca, a photo ticketing employee was stabbed with glass on November 17 while setting up a speed trap. About fifteen of the "Saher" system's sixty employees protested, demanding higher salaries and better health benefits due to the ten attacks to date. Each worker earns 4000 riyals per month (US $1066).