Car insurance news
Vigilantes continue speed camera campaign
Road safety campaigners and police in Bedfordshire have slammed the vandals responsible for dousing a speed camera with petrol and setting it alight.
This incident is the latest in a long line of 'vigilante' attacks against the cameras and authorities fear that some motorists are finally beginning to fight back against what they see as purely money-making devices.
Convictions for speeding have increased enormously in the past few years and many drivers have found themselves losing their right to cheap car insurance as a result. Those in their teens and early twenties have particularly suffered and have seen the price of their young driver car insurance premium shoot up enormously after being zapped by a camera.
Groups such as the Motorists Against Detection (MAD), led by urban superhero, Captain Gatso, are one vigilante group who have taken it upon themselves to end the speed camera nightmare. They are labelled as 'terrorists' by one police chief, but maintain that they fully support speed cameras in built-up areas and near schools.
They do, however, claim to have destroyed over 600 speed cameras across Britain that they see as erected simply to make money and not to protect lives.
Captain Gatso, whose real identity is a closely guarded secret, was recently reported as saying, "This is a struggle against an unjust form of taxation. The cameras have nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with raising revenue.
"Our operatives are responsible people. Many are professionals with families who lead normal lives. Yet they feel aggrieved and will not just sit back and accept this. Direct action is our only form of defence."
Similar activity has been reported all across Europe as more and more people become frustrated at losing their cheap car insurance. Holland has a well-established group of anti-speed camera fanatics who use dynamite and other explosives, while a Swiss man was recently arrested after hacking down a speed camera with an axe and throwing it over a cliff.
Angry at the actions of the vigilant groups, Bedfordshire Police Chief Superintendent Steven Dilley said, "It is extremely disappointing that someone could wilfully damage the very equipment that is saving lives and making the roads safer for our communities.
"Those responsible need to fully appreciate the seriousness of their actions."
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