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Are Italy's speed cameras ripping you off?

The Local Italy
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Are Italy's speed cameras ripping you off?
An Italian speed camera waits for its next victim. Photo: Xavier Carè

A ruling passed by Italy's constitutional court has cast into doubt the reliability of the country's speed cameras.

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According to data from contribuenti.it, there has been a 987 percent increase in speeding tickets issued since 2010. In the province of Milan alone, speeding tickets rake in €408,000 a day – but this number looks set to decrease.

It now appears that many speeding tickets could have been issued by machines that were not calibrated correctly. The revelation comes thanks to a lengthy legal battle fought by two motorists in Mondovì, a town in north-east Italy.

On April 29th the judges at the constitutional court in Rome overturned a speeding ticket that the motorists had received, on the grounds that the speed camera that snapped them had not been reliable.

The ruling stated that measurements made by speed cameras were subject to variations and in particular, “variations in values measured due to ageing,” La Stampa reported.

The decision was welcome news for Italy's long suffering motorists, but could be a potential disaster for local councils across the bel paese.

In light of the ruling local authorities must now show that maintenance is being carried out on speed cameras, or risk opening the floodgates to millions of appeals which could cost them an untold fortune.

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