By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports
Vigilantes across Europe and North America took time out during the holidays to disable or eliminate the use of over a dozen automated ticketing machines. A truck being used as a speed camera platform in Edmonton, Canada, was damaged after it failed to prevent an accident on Wednesday. The Ford F150 pickup had the message "Drive Safe" emblazoned on its side as it issued automated tickets on a snow and ice-covered Whitemud Drive. The truck collided with an SUV around 9am.

In Cumbria, England, vigilantes on Christmas Day cut down the pole-mounted speed camera on the A596. In a video posted December 21, French humorist Remi Gaillard posted a video in which he dressed as Santa Claus and posed with a child on his lap in front of a speed camera. Instead of taking a photograph of passing traffic, the device ended up taking a suitable Christmas photo. Gaillard also placed a giant wrapped gift box over a speed camera, thwarting the device's ability to issue tickets until police were dispatched to the scene so that ticket generation could resume.

Vigilantes in Saint-Beauzire, France, celebrated New Year's Eve by setting fire to the speed camera on the RD588. Around the same time, the speed camera on the RD902 in Polignac was blinded with black spraypaint. Bright green spraypaint was applied to the speed camera on the A57 in Toulon on Thursday. Likewise, in Saint-Jean-du-Bois, vigilantes sprayed the speed camera on the RD23 with green paint. The speed camera installed on Tuesday on the RD943 in Chocques was blinded with spraypaint a few hours after it was put into service. Gray paint was used against the speed camera in Arrageois on Monday, December 27. Yellow was the choice of color used to blind the camera on the RD951 in Saint-Julien-l'Ars. On Christmas Day, fire damaged the speed camera on the RD884 near Peron.

In Lucca, Italy, vigilantes wasted no time on December 30 before using black spraypaint to blind the speed camera that had been installed a few hours earlier that day on the Viale San Concordio. In Bitonto, opponents of automated ticketing once again took action by cutting down the speed camera on the Via Domenico Ricapito on Wednesday. The speed camera on the SP6 in Sgonico disappeared on Christmas Eve, only to be discovered five days later -- it was a mile away behind a bush in Sales. In Cagliari, red spraypaint blinded the speed cameras on the SS131.