Speed camera census starts: from 1 December, fines void if device is not registered

The consumers' association recalls how the speed camera chaos has been going on for 18 months now, ever since the Court of Cassation ruled in April 2024 that fines issued by approved but unapproved devices were invalid. "Today, almost 60% of fixed speed cameras and over 67% of mobile ones, in addition to not being homologated, were approved before 2017, a watershed date in terms of homologation and possible use of the devices, resulting in an avalanche ofappeals by fined motorists," Codacons adds.

Following Order 10505/2024 of the Court of Cassation, which put the issue of the lack of approval of speed cameras in the spotlight, the jurisprudence of legitimacy has established the principle that a report is legitimate if there is actual approval of the detection device. Thus, mere approval is not sufficient to validly ascertain the exceeding of speed limits. But to date, the measuring devices are simplyapproved: there is still no homologation procedure, despite the fact that the Highway Code came into force in 1993 and Article 142 states that the findings of duly homologated equipment are 'considered to be sources of evidence'.

According to theCourt of Cassation, the administrative authorisation and approval procedures, while to a large extent overlapping, cannot be considered equivalent, regardless of the actual unreliability or inaccuracy of the devices used to detect speed.

The consequences of this legal uncertainty are manifold: numerousappeals by motorists to have their fines cancelled and, in the event, also the deduction of points on their licences; waste of time and resources in court proceedings; the accusation against municipalities of using abusive, non-standard devices, simply to "make money"; the poor compliance with speed limits, one of the main causes of accidents, even fatal ones, while driving.