3/16/2020
Belgium, France, Italy: Speed Cameras Attacks SlowAttacks on speed cameras slow worldwide as Covid-19 virus cases multiply.
Vigilante actions against speed cameras slowed worldwide last week as the Wuhan virus health emergency took hold. In Macerata, Italy, officials suspended the use of speed cameras, saying the use of photo enforcement is of "secondary importance" during a pandemic. On Friday, the speed camera on the Via Rufelli in Ariccia was knocked over onto the ground. The speed camera on the RD30 in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, that had been installed on March 3 was spraypainted on the next day. As of March 9, the device was still out of service.
On March 8, a speed camera was destroyed after failing to prevent an accident on the Rue Paul Janson, in Souvret, Belgium. The drunk driver who wiped out the camera was taken into custody. Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters in a written parliamentary answer said the number of attacks in Flanders jumped from 39 in 2016 to 68 in 2019, at a cost last year of 218,000 euros (US $243,000).