12/9/2012

Belgium, Italy, UK: Speed Cameras Attacked
Speed cameras across Europe are burned, painted and knocked over.

Five speed cameras were installed on Monday in Cassano d'Adda, Italy, a town near Milan. By Tuesday, vigilantes had destroyed two of the "VeloOk" devices placed along Via Europa. The automated ticketing machines were both unscrewed from the ground and knocked over, and one of them was pummelled with a club, according to Milano Today.

"It is perhaps worth pointing out, so that people know clearly, these [speed cameras] do not cost public money, but they have been provided free of charge by the manufacturer," Police Commander Varno Maccari said in a statement.

In Scotland, vigilantes disabled a speed camera on Wednesday at around 7:20pm. The automated ticketing machine was located on the A9 outside Dunkeld, BBC News reported.

In Flanders, Belgium, attacks on speed cameras are on the rise. A total of 70 speed cameras were attacked in the first eight months of the year, a 30 percent increase from the previous year's total. Antwerp saw the greatest increase in anti-camera activity, according to HLN.be. In 2011 and 2012 combined, there were 124 incidents. The most frequent method of destruction was "collision" with 39 incidents, 21 crowbar attacks, spraypainting in 18 cases, 11 fire attacks and 3 cameras were shot.