Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/66/6656.asp

2/25/2019

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UK: Speed Cameras Out Of Commission
As Yellow Vest protests continued in France, speed cameras were disabled throughout Europe and the Middle East last week.

The Yellow Vest protests that were triggered in November by the anti-motorist policies of French President Emmanuel Macron continued for the fifteenth week. According to the Interior ministry, 46,000 individuals took to the streets in the major cities on Saturday -- a slight increase compared to recent weekends.

Other protesters took matters into their own hands. In the Ain department, 24 out of 28 speed cameras are non-functional. In Hennebont, vigilantes used red paint to blind the speed camera on the D781 on Sunday. Officials installed a speed camera on the RD618 near Tellancourt, and it was blinded with green spraypaint and tilted away from the road by Saturday. White spraypaint blinded the speed camera on the D949 in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire on February 18. The previous day, blue paint was used to blind the A16 speed camera in Calais.

Vigilantes on Saturday used burning tires to destroy the speed camera on the D606 in Voutenay-sur-Cure. On Thursday, only a charred black housing was left after the photo radar unit on the D643 in Aubencheul-au-Bac was put to the torch. On Wednesday, a car rammed the speed camera on the RD942 in Saint-Etienne-le-Laus. Fire consumed the speed camera on the D817 in Habas on February 18.

Vigilantes in Tittensor, England, set fire to the speed camera on the A34 on February 18, according to the Stoke Sentinel. A vigilante torched a pair of speed cameras in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on February 18 and posted videos of the devices burning on social media, Al Yaum reported. In Cafaggio, Italy, vigilantes bashed a rusty old speed camera that officials left installed on the side of the SR398. Il Tirreno pointed out that the device has not issued a ticket in several years.

A speed camera caused an accident in Steinheim, Germany, on Friday. Just before 10am, a 52-year-old driver from Stuttgart was attempting to pass a truck when he saw a speed camera. The man jammed on the brakes to avoid receiving a ticket, but the sudden maneuver caused him to lose control and crash into the guardrail of the B16.

In Bruges, Belgium, a speed camera was knocked off its mounting after it failed to prevent an accident on Friday. The device had been issuing automate tickets in the historic city center near the Ezelpoort when the 60-year-old driver of an Opel Combo slammed into it.