11/13/2023
Damaging Protests Against Photo Radar In New York, France, Italy, Netherlands, UKClever signmaker protested New York photo radar and European vigilantes last week disabled a half-dozen speed cameras.
By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports
Vigilantes in Staten Island, New York, have turned to professional sign making to protest the use of automated ticketing machines. Official looking signage was attached to a pole next to a photo radar trap on Huguenot Avenue announcing "New speed camera, sanctuary city needs funding." A second sign underneath reads, "Dems Increase Speed. Your new camera has been installed." Multiple utility poles on Hylan Boulevard and at Cleveland Avenue, were marked with blue, white or green spraypaint to highlight the presence of several cameras. A barber-pole style red and yellow paint job provided motorists on Watchogue Road the most vivid warning of the presence of the automated trap.
In Cornwall, England, vigilantes on Friday used an angle grinder to cut down the pole-mounted speed camera on the A394 between Helston and Trewennack, disrupting the device's ability to generate automated citations. In Wateringen, Netherlands, green paint was used to thwart the Heulweg speed camera's ability to issue automated citations, knocking one of the area's most profitable photo radar units out of service.
Red paint blinded the speed camera on the RD 994 in Rigny-sur-Arroux, France, last week. The same device has been attacked multiple times over the past 14 years. The speed camera on the Strada Provinciale 28bis, just outside of Rome, in Guidonia Montecelio, Italy, only had a week of issuing automated tickets before vigilantes snipped the wiring on Wednesday, deactivating the device.