In the main 6 municipalities of Sardinia alone, fines for violations of the Highway Code guaranteed local administrations revenues of over 10.7 million euros in 2024 , with an average growth of +8.6% compared to 2023.

These are the data from Adiconsum Sardegna , which analyzed the financial statements presented by local authorities and published on the website of the Ministry of the Interior.

" The municipality that has seen a real surge in traffic fines is Nuoro, whose revenues have risen in one year by almost 136% , going from 406 thousand euros in 2023 to 957 thousand euros in 2024 - explains the president Giorgio Vargiu - In the same period Sassari has seen a growth in revenues guaranteed by fines of +36.4%, +6.8% Olbia. Cagliari, with its 4.34 million euros in revenues, ranks first for fines in Sardinia, followed by Olbia (2.4 million) and Sassari (1.5 million) ".

«If we analyze the per capita value of the fines based on the number of inhabitants, Cagliari is at the top of the list with an average of 40.7 euros per resident, followed by Olbia with 39 euros and Nuoro with 28.5 euros» adds Vargiu.

Furthermore, in the monitored municipalities, speed cameras have guaranteed earnings of over 640 thousand euros in 2024 – reveals the Adiconsum Sardegna report – But extending the gaze to other small Sardinian municipalities on whose territory automatic speed detection devices are installed, it turns out that last year Monastir (Su) earned a good 1,303,617 euros thanks to speed cameras, Decimomannu (Ca) 732,456 euros, Iglesias (Su) 463,528, Elmas (Ca) 278,866 euros.

WHAT'S NEW – «However, things are about to change when it comes to speed cameras – warns Giorgio Vargiu – By next June 12, local authorities will have to adapt to the new provisions introduced by the MIT decree of 04/11/2024 , which assigns prefects the task of identifying the stretches of road on which speed cameras can be installed: only on roads where certain conditions exist, such as a high accident rate, difficulty in immediately reporting the violation, speed of vehicles in transit that is on average higher than the permitted limits. The minimum distance between two different devices is also changing (4 km on motorways; 3 km on main extra-urban roads; 1 km on secondary extra-urban and urban through-road roads; 500 metres on urban neighbourhood and local urban roads). The distance between the speed limit sign and the speed camera must be at least 1 km on extra-urban roads; 200 m on urban through-road roads; 75 m on other roads».

Another new development is the recent establishment of the Observatory on traffic fines set up at the MIT, «which will help understand how municipalities spend the money collected from citizens through fines, resources that by law – concludes Vargiu – should go to road safety but which are too often used by local administrations to cover budget holes».

(Unioneonline/vl)

© Riproduzione riservata