“Superhero Fleximan” fights speed cameras with a grinding wheel in Italy and receives great support | outside

In Italy, as in other parts of the world, speed cameras are not particularly popular with the public, and some residents are taking action. A character named Fleximan set himself the goal of removing as many speed cameras as possible. He does it in the dark and his tool is her.bottlesible“, or grinding wheel. He seems to have become a folk hero in Italy.

Fleximan has already reported at least fifteen successful attacks. The unknown vandal began leaving a trail of devastation in the North East months ago as more and more cameras were taken offline. Pictures of his actions then spread on social media, along with the nickname taken from the Italian word for grinding wheel.

The campaign may reflect public anger over the increase in speed cameras, but the number of road deaths in Italy is also higher than in many other European countries. According to the British newspaper The Times, an average of eight people die and six hundred are injured in car accidents every day. The European Transport Safety Board estimates the number of deaths in Italy per million inhabitants at 54 in 2022, almost double the number of road deaths in Britain (26 deaths per million) and Spain (37 per million).

However, some officials, including the mayors of some affected cities, said they were listening to chants online echoing that Fleximen was back in business. “These people are criminals,” says Antonella Argenti, the mayor of Villa del Conte, where one of Flexeman’s men is believed to be active. “But we must also listen to the support they receive – speed cameras are tools of oppression.”

The downed speed cameras will not be officially fixed at this time to calm things down. It is perhaps somewhat understandable that anger is rising. Italy has the largest number of speed cameras in Europe. Their number is estimated at more than eight thousand. This is more than double the number in Britain and Germany, which have 4,000 and 3,800 respectively. It is estimated that the Netherlands has “only” 650 fixed speed cameras.

Fines imposed on motorists have increased significantly in recent years. According to Italian consumer group Codacones, the city of Florence alone received speeding fines of €25 million last year, followed by Milan, Genoa and Rome. To honor Fleximan’s actions, Fleximan posters have appeared all over Italy, and images of him in comic art are appearing on social media.

But it has also caught the attention of the police and they are taking the character seriously. These crimes are so significant that a paramilitary branch of the Carabinieri police, which usually focuses on pursuing Mafia members and terrorists, took charge of the Fleximan case. The first success has now been achieved. In the Verbano area, a 50-year-old construction worker who had no wife or children was arrested for dropping a speed camera, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.