By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

Local officials across Italy continue to find themselves in hot water over their illegal use of speed cameras. In the wake of an April ruling from the Court of Cassation -- Italy's highest court -- some thirty-five mayors across ten regions have been placed under investigation, and automated ticketing machines have been seized in Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont, Basilicata, Molise, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily.

Under the court's ruling, photo radar devices may not be used unless they are properly certified. National regulations also require that they only be placed in locations meeting certain criteria specifying the minimum number of past accidents at the site and the speed limit. Mayors are now clamoring for an update to the rules so they can resume ticketing.

In Saint-Witz, France, the speed camera on the RD317 was turned around so it faced toward trees and away from the road, incapable of generating automated tickets, on Monday, August 26. In Attendorn, Germany, vigilantes blinded the speed camera on Repetalstrasse with black spraypaint on Saturday, August 24.