Non-approved devices, it’s speed camera chaos in Sannio too. What triggered a real earthquake throughout the country was order number 15505 of the Court of Cassation published on 18 April. Verdict that used definitive words regarding an old issue that had dragged on for years regarding electronic speed control. That is: is it sufficient for the devices installed by the Municipalities to be “approved” by the Ministry of Infrastructure, or is it necessary for them to have formal “homologation”? A dispute that is not only nominalistic, clarified the court of last resort by accepting the argument of a citizen who was the recipient of a fine issued by the Municipality of Treviso.
«The ministerial approval – the Court of Cassation ruled – authorizes the serial reproduction of a device tested in the laboratory, with attribution of competence to the Ministry for Economic Development, while the approval consists of a procedure that does not require the comparison of the prototype with characteristics considered fundamental. The approval therefore consists of a procedure which also has a technical nature, to guarantee the perfect functionality and precision of the electronic instrument, a requirement which must be proven by the public administration”.
The repercussions are also evident in Sannio. The Supreme Court ruling opens a highway to appeals that will refer to the verdict. The Prefecture and Polstrada have been alerted on the issue for days, but at the moment there is no univocal operational line. Further information is needed, as vice prefect Mara De Feo, head of the Prefecture’s sanctions system area, clarifies: «In the next few hours we will ask a question to the Ministry of the Interior so that they can provide us with guidelines on the matter. The ruling of the Court of Cassation, although adopted in relation to a municipality in Northern Italy, requires a survey of all existing structures in the territory. We will carry it out quickly, but upstream guidance from government bodies will be necessary.”
And what will happen to appeals awaiting examination by the Prefecture? “We hope to have precise indications within a few days – assures De Feo – If, in the meantime, it should be necessary to express our opinion on any appeal that raises this issue, we would as a precaution welcome it”.
A prudential line that the first citizens of the Samnite municipalities equipped with speed cameras do not seem to want to adopt, as they have no intention of turning off their electronic eyes. Always in the spotlight for the six-figure revenues earned over the years, the Municipality of Paupisi has become the emblem of the speed camera route, as the state Telesina has now been identified even at a national level: «But it is an old and specious question – he replies dryly Mayor Antonio Coletta – We don’t authorize the system ourselves, evidently the bodies responsible for checks have given the OK. And moreover, even the appeals produced over the years have never been accepted. These are objective data, I leave the populist controversies to others. If there are different provisions from the superordinate bodies, we will clearly implement them.”
The mayor of Ceppaloni is in agreement Claudio Cataudo, owner of a device on the Appia: «The ruling of the Court of Cassation, which is not a joint session, does not seem to me to be a sufficient reason to deactivate a system which has proven to be the only valid deterrent against the occurrence of serious accidents on the main road. We have been fighting the battle for safety for years together with the civic committee and the parish priest. We have never used the device to make cash.”
Voice out of the chorus that of Luigino Ciarlo, mayor of Morcone: «I tell you frankly: if this sentence leads to the turning off of all the speed cameras set up by the Municipalities, I will be happy. Since taking office, I have ordered the continuous deactivation of the device. It is only turned on in rare cases, and that is enough as a deterrent.” The president of the SOS 372 Telesina committee Giovanni Bonelli asks for checks: «The question of approval had already been proposed in the past, but in light of this ruling from the Supreme Court, we ask that the Prefecture, the Polstrada and Anas itself ascertain ad horas whether the speed cameras present on Telesina have all the prescribed requirements ».
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