Italy, and especially the Dolomites, have become the European tax collection kings thanks to the proliferation of fixed and mobile radars. As we have learned thanks to the German media Motorrad Online, currently they are more than 11,000 fixed radars those that operate throughout the country and the amount obtained by one of them installed in Colle Santa Lucía is especially striking.
According to Codacons (Coordination of associations for the defense of the environment and the rights of users and consumers), this operational radar in this small town in the Dolomites managed to invoice the staggering amount of 1,265,822 euros between the years 2021 and 2023. This would be equivalent to a per capita income of each of its 353 inhabitants of 3,600 euros during this period.
The Dolomites, a dangerous place for our pocket
This radar installed in the Dolomites is located exactly on Passo Giau, a high mountain pass between Cortina d'Ampezzo and Selva di Cadore, which has speed limited to 50 km/h. Although the locals are aware of this prohibition, the same generally does not happen with those tourists who visit the area.
This translates into fines everywhere for anyone who drives around the place exceeding the established speed limit, involuntarily collaborating to increase the municipality's coffers. An activity that seems to be not only limited to Dolomites, since the income derived from radar fines was raised last year 585 million eurosonly in the 20 most important cities in the country.
Faced with the indignation of the people, the Italian Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini, has announced that new legal regulations will be approved to stop the proliferation of radars in the country. The document, it seems, establishes that local authorities will have to justify the installation of any type of radar with real data.
Can you imagine if the DGT had to do the same thing every time it installs a new radar on our roads? Here we can rest assured, we already know that “it is for our safety”, note the ironic way, although with or without irony they will continue to plunder our pockets systematically.