Italy takes hundreds of speed cameras out of service

The Italian government has temporarily taken hundreds of speed cameras out of service after finding they do not comply with new rules that came into force on Sunday.

Italy's transport ministry has ruled that speed cameras must blur the faces of drivers and passengers and must have a margin of error of less than three percent above 100 kilometres per hour, among other requirements.

The ministry told AFP on Monday that about 3,150 speed cameras have been found compliant and will continue operating on Italy's roads. Manufacturers will have to apply in the coming months to have another 850 cameras certified.

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini wrote on X that there should be an end to what he called ghost speed cameras, saying they were a hidden tax on millions of workers and had nothing to do with road safety.

Italy's highway code has required since 1992 that speed cameras be certified, but no implementing decree had been issued. In 2024, Italy's Supreme Court confirmed that fines based on speed checks were invalid if the cameras had only been approved by the administration and had not been tested and certified. The source said many challenges followed.

Consumer association Codacons said the measure came very late and said some local authorities had already switched off devices because fines would have been found invalid. Codacons said people who endanger their own lives and the lives of others must be punished severely, but that penalties must be legitimate and imposed with devices that fully comply with the Highway Code.

According to Codacons, revenue from speed cameras in Italy's 20 largest cities fell by nine percent in 2025 and totalled 306 million euros between 2021 and 2025. Florence collected more than 86 million euros, ahead of Milan and Genoa.

Italy recorded 49 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2025, a rate that the European Commission figure places, along with France, among the worst performers in Western Europe.