http://www.thenewspaper.com/ TheNewspaper: A Journal of Driving and Politics en-us http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8317.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8317.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

Vigilantes in Swansea, Wales, blinded the newly replaced speed camera on Llangyfelach Road with red paint over the weekend. In May 2024, the device had been cut down with an angle grinder. Residents of Busalla, Italy, were more gentle in their disabling of speed cameras. They placed cardboard boxes over the units on the SP35.

In Beziers, France, 4000 winegrowers gathered to protest government agricultural policy. During the event, participants trashed a speed camera. In Saint-Pierre-en-Val, a colorful array of red, blue and green spraypaint was used to stop the automated ticketing machine on the RD1314 from issuing citations. The device had just been installed at the beginning of the month. On Saturday, November 8, opponents of photo radar torched a trio of speed cameras in Ille-et-Vilaine. This included the device on the RD155 in Val-Couesnon, the one on the RD798 near Fougeres and on the RN12 in La Chapelle-Fleurigne. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-11-17T10:29-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/36/3655.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/36/3655.asp A total of 1,257,997 voters across twelve states have gone to the polls to cast a ballot in favor or against the use of photo enforcement. The vast majority have said "no" to red light cameras and speed cameras.

On November 4, 2025, voters in South Euclid, Ohio, rejected the attempt of local officials to remove a voter-approved prohibition on the use of automated ticketing machines in place since 2011. Even more people -- 58 percent -- said "no" to the use of cameras the second time around.

Since 1991, there have been a total of 46 election contests in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Washington. With few exceptions, automated ticketing has failed by as much as 86 percent. One city did embrace the use of cameras after uniformed police officers were dispatched to go door-to-door to "encourage" citizens to keep the ticketing system in place.

The following is a comprehensive list of each contest, with the percentage opposed to the use of cameras and links to further information. More]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-11-05T06:02-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8316.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8316.asp In Xanten, Germany, an unidentified vigilante smashed the mobile speed camera that had been issuing automated tickets on Strasse Am Rheintor yesterday evening, according to local police reports. On the previous evening, yellow spraypaint was used to sabotage the photo radar device stationed on Erwitter Strasse in Geseke-Langeneicke.

On Friday, the pole-mounted "turret" speed camera on the RD1063 Near Haguenau was destroyed by fire. On the following day in Saint-Catherine a Lizio, the turret speed camera on the RD4 was torched for the third time this year. Also on Thursday, the Gers prefecture announced vigilantes had sabotaged photo radar devices throughout the department by wrapping them with tarps or spraypainting them. The rural group CR32 claimed responsibility. Red spraypaint thwarted automated ticketing efforts on the RN10 near Champniers on Thursday -- less than a week after a similar attack on the same device. In La Barre, black spraypaint blinded the speed camera on the RD673.

Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-10-27T08:43-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8315.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8315.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

Vigilantes in Quebec, Canada, on Tuesday set fire to the speed camera that had been issuing automated citations on Autoroute 30 in Saint-Constant.

On Saturday, photo radar opponents blinded the high-volume speed camera on the RN10 in Champniers with blue spraypaint. On Thursday, it was orange paint that took out the speed camera on the RD8051 in Fepin. On Tuesday, red paint was used on the automated ticketing machine located on the D940 in Octeville-sur-Mer. In Chouppes, vulgar art decorated the speed camera on the RD347. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-10-20T13:47-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8314.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8314.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

French vigilantes destroyed a pair of speed cameras with fire on Friday. The devices had been issuing automated tickets on the RD107 in Alba-la-Romaine and on the RD93 in Solaure en Diois. Around the same time, black paint blinded the speed camera on the RD9 in Craon-de-Ludes. On the RD978 in Simard, gold paint was used to prevent the device from issuing citations.

In Agrigento, Italy, vigilantes on Saturday torched the speed camera on Strada Statale 640. The flaming wreckage was hauled away by a passing Carabinieri officer. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-10-13T08:33-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8313.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8313.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

Vigilantes in Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente, France, set fire to the speed camera on the RN10 on Friday. This was the third such attack in the department in the past month. In Audelange, the speed camera on the RD673 was blinded by black spraypaint, the second time the device has been disabled in just over a week. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-10-06T07:56-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8312.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8312.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Nancy, France, the newly installed speed camera on Avenue de Boufflers was spraypainted on Saturday. On Tuesday, the photo radar device on the RD532 in Chatuzange-le-Goubet was blinded with paint. Then, on Friday, the same device was set on fire. A vigilante on Tuesday covered the speed camera on the RD9 in Merzer with white paint. Police claim they found a suspect. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-09-29T08:49-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8311.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8311.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Ottawa, Canada, vigilantes blinded the speed camera on Tenth Line Road in Orleans with orange spraypaint on Saturday. A trio of speed cameras were also toppled in Toronto, Canada, last week. Two of the automated ticketing machines were located on Avenue Road and the other issued automated tickets on Mount Pleasant Road.

In Hamm, Germany, a bicycle-riding vigilante saw a mobile speed camera being set up on Kleine Amtsstrasse on Friday. He swiped several critical parts, ensuring the device would not be able to issue automated citations. He was not caught. Also on Thursday, clever motorists hung a 50 km/h sign over the 30 km/h sign near the speed camera on Heuslingstrasse in Freudenberg, giving fellow drivers another 12 MPH. In Edermunde, red spraypaint was used Wednesday to blind the photo radar on Guxhagener Strasse, according to local police reports. In Nicosia, Cyprus, a 36-year-old man trashed a mobile speed camera on Wednesday.

Vigilantes in Saint-Aignan-des-Noyers, France, on Thursday blinded the speed camera on the RD951 with blue spraypaint. On the same day, the speed camera on the RD643 near Le Cateau was set on fire, completely destroying the device. In Saint-Aubin-des-Preaux, vigilantes burned the speed camera on the RD673 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the speed camera on the RD767 in Moustoir-Ac was torched. Also that day, the speed camera on the RD9 in Saint-Pierre-du-Champ was cut down by unknown opponents of automated ticketing. On Friday, September 12, vigilantes burned the speed camera on the RD5 in Molac. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-09-22T10:49-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8310.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8310.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Ontario, Canada, vigilantes toppled sixteen speed cameras in Toronto on Tuesday. Premier Doug Ford responded with a threat to pull the plug on automated ticketing throughout the entire province.

"They should take out those cameras -- all of them," Ford said at the beginning of last week. "This is nothing but a tax grab. I've driven by speed traps that aren't even close to school areas. Hopefully, the cities will get rid of them... or, I'm going to help them get rid of them."

In Stittsville, a suburb of Ottawa, three speed cameras have been disabled by vigilantes in seven incidents so far this year. The camera lenses were smashed twice and covered with tape or stickers on five occasions.

In Zwolle, the Netherlands, mother nature destroyed a speed camera earlier today. The automated ticketing on the N50 was blown over by strong winds, and the towering device fell into the middle of the highway. There were no reports of injury to passing motorists. In Zevenhuizen, a technician working for Enexis severed the electrical connection for a speed camera, saying it was unsafe. The device had back-up power from a solar panel.

French protesters took to the streets Wednesday as part of the "Block Everything" movement against the government that targeted the lucrative photo radar network. On Thursday, the speed camera on the RD906 in Bellevue-la-Montagne was cut down and left in a field. On the same day, a pair of automated ticketing machines on the RD83 near Rouffach were blinded with spraypaint. On Wednesday, the speed camera on the RD989 near Bogny-sur-Meuse was destroyed with fire. On the same day in Maine-de-Boixe, the speed camera on the RN10 was also set ablaze. Protesters cut down the speed cameras on the RD952 in Valloire-sur-Cisse and the RD951 in Montlivault on Tuesday. Around the same time, the speed camera on the RN141 in Hiersac burned. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-09-15T09:41-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8309.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8309.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Greeley, Colorado, an opponent of photo radar on Wednesday hurled a ten-pound rock through the window of the photo radar van that was isusing fully automated citations on Sixteenth Street. A 27-year-old man was accused of damaging the vehicle.

Vigilantes in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday cut down the speed camera on Parkside Drive for the seventh time this year. While the device was operating, it generated $8 million in profit for the local government.

Vigilantes in Pauilhac, France, earlier today torched the speed camera on the RN21. On Wednesday, the speed camera on the RD139 in Marzan was set ablaze. In Saint-Sauveur-Villages, red spraypaint was used to blind the photo radar unit on the RD2 for the second time in the past two weeks.

In Langenfeld, Germany, on Friday, opponents of automated ticketing used explosives to destroy the speed camera on Hauptstrasse, according to local police reports. Around the same time in Florsheim, two masked vigilantes spraypainted the mobile speed camera on Russelsheimer Strasse, preventing the device from issuing fully automated citations. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-09-08T10:44-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8308.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8308.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Grimmen, Germany, vigilantes on Saturday overturned the mobile speed camera trailer that had been issuing automated tickets in Zarrentin. On the day before that, they blinded with black spraypaint the speed camera on the B194. Vigilantes in Ontario, Canada, grabbed the solar panels that powered the speed camera on Veterans Memorial Highway on Saturday, August 23, thwarting the device's ability to issue automated tickets.

Vigilantes in La Ferte-Mace, France, on Saturday sabotaged the newly installed mobile speed camera with red sprapyaint. On Friday, red spraypaint was also used to blind the speed camera on the RD2 in Muneville-le-Bingard. On Wednesday, the photo radar device on the RN31 in Jaulzy was painted black. Just three days earlier, it had been covered in black plastic. Slogans scrawled on the device suggest the vigilantes are striking back against anti-farmer sentiment among government officials. In Desaqignes, the speed camera on the CD533 was spraypainted with messages in black, but the device remained active. On Tuesday, the speed camea on the RD1089 just outside Rosiers-d'Egletons was spraypainted red with the message "10/09," referring to the upcoming nationwide protest scheduled for next Wednesday, September 10. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-09-01T08:14-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8307.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8307.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Krummhorn, Germany, vigilantes on Friday prevented the speed cameras on Schoonorther Strasse from issuing tickets by covering the legally required speed camera signs with black paint. In Bad Gandersheim, the "Alice" speed camera on L489 was blinded with spraypaint on Friday, August 15.

Opponents of automated ticketing in Livorno, Italy, on Sunday set the speed camera on the Strada Regionale 206 on fire, damaging the device. In Castiglione della Pescaia, the recently spraypainted speed cameras on the Strada Provinciale 158 had their required speed camera warning signs cut down and tossed in a ditch on Thursday.

In Maen Roch, France, the speed camera on the RD155 had its lens blocked with black spraypaint last week. Red spraypaint was used to blind the speed camera on the RD978 in Simard, which had just been repaired. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-08-25T08:47-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8306.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8306.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

Most of the fixed speed cameras in The Netherlands remain offline following a computer breach. The network that the Public Prosecution Service uses to manage automated ticketing machines was compromised in mid-July, so officials have had to disconnect the devices until the situation is resolved. Only mobile photo radar units are unaffected. Officials do not know when the devices will be turned back on. The division responsible for photo radar, Parket Centrale Verwerking Openbaar Ministerie, has suspended all electronic transactions and will only accept correspondence through postal mail until the situation is resolved.

Vigilantes in Toronto, Canada, last month grabbed two dozen speed cameras ensuring the automated ticketing machines would generate no revenue for the city and its private vendor. Police have no idea who might be responsible.

In Viersen, Germany, vigilantes on Wednesday blinded the mobile speed camera on Gladbacher Strasse with yellow spraypaint, according to local police reports. The speed camera on the RD974 in Val-d'Ize, France, was blinded with black spraypaint on Sunday, August 10. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-08-18T01:01-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8305.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8305.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Elz, Germany, vigilantes on Saturday placed a sack of burning charcoal under the speed camera on Hadamarer Strasse. According to local police reports, the device was damaged in the ensuing blaze.

In Jaulzy, France, black spraypaint blocked the lens of the speed camera on the RN31 on Friday. The attack came less than 24 hours after repairs were completed after a previous attack. On Tuesday, the speed camera in Mondrepuis was blinded with white paint. In Saint-Martin-Osmonville, black spraypaint blinded the recently replaced speed camera on the A28. The speed camera on the RD940 in Octeville-sur-Mer was taken out on Monday, August 4. Black spraypaint was also used used against two photo radar device on the D619 on Saturday, August 2. The first attack happened in Maizieres-la-Grande-Paroisse and the second in Marnay-sur-Seine.

In Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy, the brand new speed cameras on the Strada Provinciale 158 was blinded with purple spraypaint last week. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-08-11T11:01-08:00 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8304.asp http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/83/8304.asp By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Valdosta, Georgia, a man rammed the speed camera on North Lee Street on Monday, July 28. Police have arrested a suspect who will be charged with causing $1000 in damage to the device. In Northern Ireland, officials are upset that the public is fighting back against speed cameras by heaping abuse on the drivers of photo radar vans.

"First of all there is the generic sentiment as a community towards the deployment of the vans. They are still seen as a negative thing," Police Service Northern Ireland Chief Superintendent Sam Donaldson told Belfast Live.

In Hary, France, a speed camera was torched last week on the RD966. In Leutkirch im Allgau, Germany, vigilantes blinded the speed camera on Kemptener Strasse with white paint on Sunday, August 27. Source]]> TheNewspaper Editor 2025-08-04T08:45-08:00