Speed cameras, the results of the census: where and how many there are in Italy. And why chaos remains over homologation
The census of equipment has been completed: there are fewer than four thousand. But the chaos remains over type approval, which is necessary to make fines valid
Key points
Two months to report all the details of the speed cameras in Italy, from make and model to approval details. That is the time interval that, at the end of September, the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini gave municipalities to report the speed detectors in use. The result is 3,692 devices surveyed.
What was the census for?
The aim was to provide a transparent overview of the quantity and location (even if not everyone indicated it) of speed cameras. For months, Salvini has been raising the case, saying that there are too many in Italy. "Ten per cent of the world's devices," he said. "There are about 11,000," some surveys reported.
They are, however, less than four thousand. And should a person receive a fine from an uncensored device, he/she will be able to ask for it to be cancelled.
What the census did not solve
One aspect, however, has not been resolved. That is the procedure of approval, which together with that of approval serves to authorise a speed camera.
The latter is the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, while the former remains an unresolved issue: the approval process and criteria have never been established and the necessary implementing decree is still missing. That is why, in Italy, no speed camera is formally homologated.
