4/18/2016
Belgium, Ecuador, France, UK: Speed Cameras DisabledThroughout the world, vigilantes take action against automated ticketing machines.
Vigilantes in Quito, Ecuador shot a pair of speed cameras on Friday after having taken out a third device a few days earlier. According to Confirmado, the devices had been issuing tickets on Avenida Simon Bolivar.
The speed camera on highway 387 in Montserrato, Italy was likewise hit by five gunshots fired from close range, L'Unione Sarda reported. In Agna, black spraypaint was used to cover the lens of the speed camera on the Via Ceperneo on Wednesday, according to Padova Oggi.
In Bedfordshire, England vigilantes swiped a speed camera on April 2. According to Bedfordshire Police, the automated ticketing machine on Soulbury Road in Leighton Buzzard was set on fire after its camera equipment was removed from the housing. Police have no idea who might be responsible.
In Souain-Perthes-les-Hurlus, France, the new speed camera on the RD977 was covered in white spraypaint on Tuesday, according to L'Union. White spraypaint was also used to disable the speed camera on the RN147 in Lussac-les-Chateaux, La Nouvelle Republique reported. In Frontignan, the speed camera on the DR612 was burned to a crisp on Thursday, according to Infos H24.
In Belgium, Flemish Mobility Minister Ben Weyts confirmed that fifty-six automated ticketing machines were damaged or destroyed in 2015 at a cost of 176,256 euros (US $199,000). That figure is up from forty-eight damaged in 2014.