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Posted by
2916 posts

Looks like a good source of revenue!

That would be an astonishing amount of revenue for a village of 120. The town could probably eliminate all taxes on its residents.

Posted by
15043 posts

Road fines are a good source of revenue indeed.
€66 million a year for the City of Florence (85% of which charged to non residents, therefore non voters).
€300 million a year for the City of Milan.
Assuming the small village of Acquetico collected 58,000 fines for speed of no more than 10km/h above the limit, that would be 58,000 x 41€ or €2,378,000. If the speed limit is exceeded by 10 to 40 km/h then each fine is €169, so you do the math.

Posted by
4105 posts

Bet the locals traveling cross country trying to avoide cameras were very surprised 😳

Posted by
8094 posts

Those radar cameras are equal opportunity. Ticketing for all.

One got me for 1.8 mph over the 35 mph speed limit on the causeway going over to Venice from the mainland. There's not a person , side street or anything on that causeway--except that radar camera..

Posted by
11247 posts

Of course, they’d have to collect on the tickets first...

Posted by
66 posts

Wow! I wonder how many of them are multiple infractions. That would be a shocker. We have several 30km and 40km zones and I am sure they, especially the 30km ones, would clock a lot of speeders. Right now there are signs that show your speed but that does not seem to slow some people down.

Posted by
114 posts

I just got a driving ticket in the mail - from suburban Chicago. I wish some of the local youths would have "taken that camera out" as I would have as a youth. It's a money grab.

Posted by
114 posts

"Wow! I wonder how many of them are multiple infractions"

I'd say pretty much all of them, and the only ones that aren't were probably Italians who went through town only once. I saw very few people over there going anywhere near the speed limits. I think the only people who drive the limits there were rental car people like me who were afraid of tickets.

Posted by
398 posts

"Road fines are a good source of revenue indeed. €66 million a year for the City of Florence (85% of which charged to non residents, therefore non voters)."

But if the majority of these are ZTL infringements , then a) the residents probably have permits and b) would vote for it to continue - because it keeps "Us" out of "Their" streets - less problems with parking.

I used to, reasonably regularly, drive from Naples to the Castellabate region. Between Battipaglia (where you pull off the autostrada) all the way down to Agropoli is pretty much 20km of 50km/h road - and nobody is doing anything under 80km/h. If you try and keep to the speed limit, you get reckless overtaking, flashing lights, hooting and general abuse.

Posted by
8889 posts

The BBC version (here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46261169 ) includes the quote:

"We hope that these speed gauges can be an effective deterrent to motorists and that they can benefit the citizens of Acquetico, because you do not want to make cash with the fines, but it is necessary to protect people's safety,"

The object is not the fines, it is to stop people speeding. Non-tourists (drivers with Italian licences) actually have a bigger penalty, enough speeding offences and their licence is taken away.

Posted by
3812 posts

1.8 mph over

No, you were going at 1.8 + 3.1 mph, there is a 5 kmh leeway when the limit is lower than 100 kmh. These forums exist to give correct info to future readers googling around.

There's not a person , side street or anything on that causeway--except that radar camera..

Strike two. There is also this sign:

www.google.it/maps/@45.4633107,12.2815916,3a,17.5y,145.8h,93.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sK853-MrFcNcQYzoyvgs0DQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

well before this camera:
www.google.it/maps/@45.454376,12.2974701,3a,36.4y,161.1h,88.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sh2H-Lw7rvR8ekTpH4pmDnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

and last come this sign:
https://www.google.it/maps/@45.4533293,12.2993248,3a,30.6y,152.15h,92.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjgIqjT2y5NEqkJI7VqHa1A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

before this camera: https://www.google.it/maps/@45.4490902,12.3068601,3a,19.4y,156.25h,85.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEeAQV_YzM7wyzXrHkjqe7Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

the 35 mph

The limit on the causeway is 70 kmh or 44 mph: www.google.it/maps/@45.4482428,12.3083667,3a,15y,146.75h,94.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYTxYF8lzWXvalIwsFeA1NQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Strike 3.

Posted by
1674 posts

Traffic safety for pedestrians and vehicles should be the only motive for speed enforcement, yet that's far from the case. In the Ligurian traffic stats released recently, 44% of the accidents were from (in order) distracted driving, speed, and following too closely. Outside urban areas, speed was blamed in (just) 20% of the accidents. Yet the only enforcement I ever see are speed cameras which are usually not placed in the more dangerous road sections. They tend to placed along a stretch such as a causeway with no intersections. Yet, at least in Liguria, handheld cell phone use is rampant and done without fear of the potential 600 Euro fine.

Posted by
1674 posts

Yes and no and maybe. Waze will help a lot, but you'll get false alarms that the locals know about. When the stationary cameras are deactivated, the local governments just leave them there. In our little town there are four cameras and two are dead. Also the camera warning signs are used by cops with mobile radar units which some jurisdictions utilize - though they are not common.

Posted by
8889 posts

In France, any device that warns you about speed cameras is illegal. Radar detectors are illegal, as are SatNav or maps with locations on them. They do not want the situation where you know you can speed without risk of being caught.

Posted by
1674 posts

If you've received an Italian speed camera ticket, you might be entitled to a bit of schadenfreude reading this article in a Ligurian newspaper. It concerns the speed cameras along the A8 motorway around Nice. In it, Italians were complaining that there were too many cameras, that they were an extortionate scam, the cameras serve no educative purpose, and they would be boycotting France as a result. The article further details French plans for installing more and better cameras and lowering the speed limits.
https://www.riviera24.it/2018/08/lautostrada-francese-un-campo-minato-di-autovelox-che-ha-messo-in-fuga-i-turisti-568074/?fbclid=IwAR2I3F-G2JnQLa2iCalM0I495sMRMWR2UK2YPZ3830IjmpP-R79OP84B2O0

Posted by
15682 posts

when I drove like a pilchard...

Had to look that one up.
Pilchard: Merriam-Webster -
"a fish (Sardina pilchardus) of the herring family that occurs in great schools along the coasts of Europe"

I've heard of drinking like fish but never driving like one!
(Editing: whoa, guess that fish-driving post was removed?)

Posted by
15043 posts

@TimW from Hampshire

The 15% of Florence residents who get a fine are likely victims of the speed cameras, not so much the ZTL, since all Florentines should know by now where the ZTL gates are. Although some don’t care, and simply enter the ZTL at an exit point (where there are no cameras) in reverse gear against the flow of traffic (that is the latest strategy the City is trying to crack down).

Not all residents of the city can get ZTL permits. Only those who live inside the historical center. But even in that case, the ZTL is divided into 5 sectors and if you are a resident, you get a permit only for your sector of residence (not all others) and you are allowed entry only through the gates for that sector. It’s really a hassle, no matter what, and even residents with permits don’t necessarily like the ZTL arrangement, in fact an exorbitant amount of residents have moved out of the historical center and even out of Florence altogether (the city population has dropped 20% since the 1070s). The historical center is now inhabited mostly by tourists (AirBnB), students, yuppie millennials, old people, foreigners, basically people who generally don’t have a car.

Posted by
15682 posts

Well then, I learn something new every day!
Thanks, Steven. :O)