Speed camera on Vittoria–Scoglitti road set alight; damage extent unquantified

Unknown persons set fire to a speed-detection camera overnight on the SP 17, the provincial road linking the town of Vittoria to the coastal hamlet of Scoglitti, according to the Polizia locale. The device had been installed by the Comune di Vittoria. One local report placed the incident on Saturday night.

The local police force's road-information section attended to carry out the formal surveys and to open an investigation, local media report. According to the Polizia locale, the equipment was doused in flammable liquid before being set alight, causing damage to its electronic system. No one has been identified in connection with the fire and no motive has been established.

Accounts differ on the extent of the damage. One local outlet described the speed camera as destroyed; others reported damage to the sophisticated electronic system. The extent of the damage to the apparatus has yet to be quantified and further checks are under way, according to local reports. Investigators could draw on video-surveillance systems in the area and on witness testimony, local media say, though neither has been confirmed as a source of evidence.

The SP 17 is the principal link between Vittoria and Scoglitti, with numerous side accesses and junctions along both carriageways — one report put the figure at about 450 — and a double continuous centre line that restricts circulation and overtaking. Local outlets describe it as a road with a high accident record, the scene over the years of numerous collisions, some of them fatal. The speed camera had been installed as a prevention and deterrence measure against excessive speed. Its loss risks temporarily depriving control bodies of an instrument regarded locally as important for monitoring speed on a road considered particularly exposed to dangerous driving.

Investigations to identify those responsible and to quantify the damage are ongoing.