Speed ​​cameras, in Veneto the ranking of the 70 municipalities that issue the most fines. The record in Polesine

What is surprising is not so much the Municipality of Padua which in one year, 2022 (latest data available), raised almost 5 million euros with fines issued by speed cameras, how much Bagnolo di Po. This is a municipality of 1,374 inhabitants in the province of Rovigo which in the same period of time almost reached 2 million in revenues from the two speed cameras operating in the town, both in via Stradone Runzi at kilometer 8 for those proceeding in the direction of Stienta (the town of the regional councilor Cristiano Corazzari). With the highest ratio of fines per inhabitant (1,396 euros, in comparison Padua makes you smile: 23.88 euros), Bagnolo di Po has become the emblem of those who maintain that speed cameras only serve to raise money. Northern League MP Gianangelo Bof said this when speaking about non-approved equipment (“Many administrations have always taken into account the small number of people who waste the time to appeal compared to those who pay and remain silent”) and he reiterates it former parliamentarian, now organizational manager of the Veneto League, Giuseppe Paolin. Who doesn’t mince his words: «Enough hypocrisy, let’s stop kidding ourselves: the issue of speed cameras concerns exclusively the budgets of the Municipalities and not, as it has been managed so far, road safety».

THE NUMBERS
In Italy – says Paolin – there are 11,130 devices for measuring speed: «Great Britain has 7 thousand, in the world only Russia and the United States surpass us». From data from the Ministry of the Interior, to which the Municipalities must submit the reports, the total collection from speed cameras in Veneto in 2022 was 57 million euros. Out of 563 Municipalities, there are 194 that do not use these “machines”, 122 that collect from 60.55 euros in Pianezze (Vicenza) to 9,929.70 in Vigonza (Padua), 108 that collect from 10 thousand euros in Stienta (Rovigo) to 96,683.50 euros in Villorba (Treviso) and finally 124 which oscillate between 110,096.49 euros in Sedico (Belluno) to almost 5 million in Padua (and 15 who did not send the statement). But the relationship between revenue from speed cameras and the number of inhabitants of the municipality concerned is also interesting: among the top 70 “richest” Venetian municipalities in the ranking (see the table on the side), Bagnolo has the highest figure of Po, the lowest Vicenza (2.09 euros).
According to Paolin, «to truly ensure road “safety” we should establish a regional fund managed by expert personnel who uses all the proceeds from sanctions and redistributes “safety” as a percentage of the kilometers of roads in the area». Ditto the management of the software: «It should be the State that controls, not the private companies that sell or rent the devices, at stake is also the timing of the orange on traffic lights controlled by cameras: there should be mandatory second counters there to avoid speculation.”

THE REACTIONS
But the mayor of Treviso and president of Anci Veneto – who after the Supreme Court ruling asked for a rule for the approval of the devices – rejects the theory according to which the speed camera is used to raise money. “The theme – says Mario Conte, among other things the same party as Bof and Paolin – always remains that of protecting the community, the accounts take a back seat to road safety”. According to Istat data – recalls Conte – distracted driving (23,802 accidents, equal to 15.7% of the total) is the main cause of accidents. Added to this is the excessive use of smartphones, which distracts and diverts attention from driving, becoming the cause of an ever-increasing number of road accidents. Failure to respect the right of way or traffic lights (21,985 accidents, 14.5%) and too high speed (15,194, 10%) are confirmed as the other two main causes of road accidents.

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