Between approved but not approved devices and the Supreme Court ruling, over 90% of speed cameras risk being shut down. Until the new decree the sanctions remain contestable and even the tutors on the motorway can be turned off.
Endless speed camera chaos. While the government speeds up a new decree to bring order, the system risks breaking down. Between approved but not approved devices, Supreme Court rulings, incomplete censuses (only a third) and numbers that don’t add up, a game worth millions of euros in fines and thousands of appeals is taking place on Italian roads. Until the new decree comes into force, fines given with devices not present in the Ministry’s official list remain contestable. A gray area that fuels appeals, tensions between citizens and administrations and a regulatory vacuum that has lasted for years. And with a heavy shadow on the horizon: the shutdown of thousands of devices. Not just speed cameras, but also tutors on the motorway.
Speed camera chaos: the crux between approval and approval
For years the heart of the problem has been legal. The distinction between “approved” and “approved” speed cameras has generated a dispute that exploded forcefully after the Supreme Court ruling of April 2024, which clarified that fines detected with non-approved devices are illegitimate. Hence the short circuit. In Italy there are approximately 11 thousand speed control devices including fixed and mobile speed cameras, Tutors and similar systems. Nevertheless, on the platform of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, just under 3,800 devices are registered. Of these, just 1,282 automatically meet the approval requirements which will be formalized with the new decree arriving. This means that over 90% of the devices active today risk not being “compliant” and therefore any fine given with these tools is potentially contestable and null.
No speed camera fines: how to check and appeal
For those who receive a fine for speeding, the first step is to verify its regularity: it must be notified within 90 days and contain all the essential data, including serial number and speed camera approval. The device must be on the official MIT list: if it does not appear, or if it is a potentially non-compliant model prior to 2017, you can appeal. In the absence of identifying data, the motorist can request access to the documents from the body that issued the fine, which must respond within 30 days. The appeal must be presented to the prefect within 60 days (with the risk of doubling the fine in case of rejection) or to the justice of the peace within 30 days, with costs borne by the citizen. Not an easy path. But with the current situation, protests are destined to increase exponentially.
The new decree arriving: amnesty for the most recent ones, stop to the old ones
The government is accelerating and the decree on the approval, calibration and verification of devices is ready and awaits the European green light. If Brussels does not raise any concerns, it could come into force by the end of May or, at the latest, in the summer. The principle behind the new decree is clear: speed cameras approved from 2017 onwards will automatically be considered approved. A sort of amnesty for the most recent models, which would protect some of the devices in operation today. All previous ones, however, would be considered non-compliant. At the moment only just over a thousand devices fully comply with the new requirements: the others will have to be turned off or updated. Municipalities that continue to use them risk appeals and possible accounting liabilities. Meanwhile, the gap remains between the more than 11 thousand estimated detectors on Italian roads and the less than 4 thousand registered with the Ministry, a discrepancy that fuels controversy between safety needs and accusations of the use of speed cameras to raise money.
Tutors at risk of shutting down in Italy
The chaos isn’t just about urban speed cameras. Motorway Tutors and Vergilius systems could also end up in the sights of the new decree. The approval criteria would in fact exclude old generation systems approved between 2004 and May 2017. There is talk of at least 83 motorway sections affected. If these systems were to be shut down pending retrofit, the impact would be significant. Between 2002 and 2024, highway accidents decreased by 42.3%, deaths by 68% and injuries by 44.3%. The Tutor was one of the key factors in this reduction, thanks to its deterrent effect on average speed. Here is the paradox. On the one hand, the need to guarantee legality, legal certainty and compliance with the approval rules. On the other, the real risk of weakening an instrument that has significantly contributed to road safety.
