UK: Vigilantes Cost Speed Camera Operators $800,000
A total of 199 attacks on speed cameras in the UK last year cost operators over £500k (US $800k) in repair cost. The figures, reported by the Mid Sussex Times in response to a freedom of information request, do not include the far more substantial amount of revenue lost before replacement devices could be put in place to resume ticketing. Most recently, a pair of cameras were destroyed in Cambridgeshire on October 25 at around 7pm. One of the devices issued tickets on the A605 Elton bypass while a second was stationed near Peterborough. This represents the third time the A605 camera has been set on fire in the past six months. In the past fiscal year, Cambridgeshire spent £93k (US $150k) repairing cameras. including replacing an automated ticketing machine at Stow-cum-Quy, after an April 14 attack. The replacement cost was £35k (US $55k). Other areas have seen smaller repair bills. Sussex officials spent just £16k (US $25,900) to resume ticketing after fifteen separate attacks. For example, activists in Crawley burned the camera located on the C406 Bewbush Drive in August 2007, while a March 2008 attack merely involved tampering with the lock on the camera housing.
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The Boston Tea Party all over again?
Isn't this another case of voters not being able to express their outrage at the ballot box? Aren't these damn camera programs (only one on my commute here in Southern California, and only monitoring a red light) instituted by (insert ominous tone here) "faceless bureaucrats" with "no accountability?" It is the Boston Tea Party, isn't it?
How long would a speed camera last in the U.S.A where pickup trucks have rifle racks?
Good for the Brits for not standing by for this kind of @%^$. Boston Tea Party indeed.