Speed cameras, in Italy 17% of the devices installed in Europe. In the world only over 111,000

Between intelligent traffic lights, speed cameras and Tutor, there are a total of 111,451 automatic traffic violation detection devices worldwide. Of these, 11,171, or about 10 per cent of the total, are installed in Italy. Codacons, which reports the statistics of the specialised platform, Scdb.info, provides this data. The platform surveys speed cameras in various countries on all continents.

The number of devices present on Italian roads and used to sanction exceeding speed limits and traffic light infringements is constantly increasing, to the point that there are now 11,171 of them,' explains Codacons. 'This is 17 per cent of all automatic devices present in Europe, which between new-generation traffic lights, speed cameras and tutors records a total of 65,429 devices.

Ahead of Italy there is only Russia with 18,414 automatic instruments for detecting offences, and Brazil (17,614), countries that, however, have a much larger and more extensive territory than Italy. In the United States there are 7,973, while in Europe, among the countries with the most speed cameras and intelligent traffic lights installed along the roads we find Great Britain (7,707) followed by Germany (4,690), France (3,745), Belgium (3,179), Sweden (2,466) and Spain (2,268).

The increase in these automatic devices has led to a generalised increase in road fines in Italy, to the point that in 2023 municipalities collected a total of more than EUR 1.5 billion thanks to fines, with a growth of +23.7 per cent over 2019," Codacons analyses. "It is small municipalities in particular that benefit from this, i.e. those that make most use of speed cameras to fine motorists, and which have seen an increase in revenue from road fines of more than 50 per cent over 2019.

The consumer association points out some weak points. The 'Observatory on traffic fines' introduced by the decree law P.a. bis (dl 75/2023) and announced last summer, has not yet started. The Observatory, set up at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, should have become operational within 90 days of the decree's conversion into law (published in the Official Gazette on 16 August 2023) with the task of producing an annual report 'containing in particular data on road accidents and on the regularity and transparency of the use of the proceeds of administrative fines and the use of electronic speed control devices', as well as verifying 'the reports of consumer associations operating in the sector and requesting data and information from the competent administrations'.