First in Grotteria Mare, then in Marina di Gioiosa Jonica, shortly, it seems, also in Caulonia Marina and Camini Mare if the provincial government bodies, by virtue of the requests made by the local authorities, will give the go-ahead. Along the not short – and already in itself, especially throughout the summer period, busy and chaotic – stretch of State Road 106 which runs along the coastal stretch of the Upper Ionian of Reggio (from Grotteria Mare to Monasterace) over the months they increase more and more , both in static and dynamic mode, for thousands of motorists and motorcyclists the “traps” of speed cameras. This choice, by the Municipalities, can be shared only in part given that the dangerousness of the artery in question and the high number of tragic accidents do not at all depend only on speed – or on overtaking or risky maneuvers – but on much more: problems structural, maintenance, signage, night lighting and safety in general seen – and here the danger index is at the highest levels – the dozens and dozens of “entrances” and “exits”, largely illegal or not standard along the route.
As, gradually, the “problem” of speed cameras and traffic on the 106 is generating endless protests, appeals and legal and judicial disputes – more and more dimensions of economic “revenues” and not of road safety, just yesterday the voluntary association “Enough victims on the SS 106” intervened in the matter, with a detailed and hard press release, which in recent days – as confirmed by the president of the association, Leonardo Caligiuri – presented four complaints, respectively, to the public prosecutors of Castrovillari, Crotone, Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria concerning the following wording: “complaint regarding the detection systems of the speed”. Furthermore, all the complaints were also sent for information to President Mattarella, President Meloni, Ministers Zangrillo, Piantedosi and Salvini, the General Directorate for Road Safety and Road Transport of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Office II, Directorate of legal and related affairs of the Ministry of Justice.
«The voluntary organization “Basta Vittime sulla Strada Statale 106” – we read – through its scientific committee has carried out a huge job in order to verify the outcome of the appeals presented by citizens following a sanction received against a traffic violation. It emerged that in the first half of 2023, in the stretch of State Road 106 along the entire regional Ionian coast, as many as 953 citizens (100%) presented an appeal to the justices of the peace of Oriolo, Trebisacce, Corigliano, Rossano, Cariati, Cirò, Crotone, Petilia Policastro, Catanzaro, Locri and Reggio Calabria. The appeals presented by citizens accepted by the justice of the peace were 741 (77.8%), while those rejected were 202 (22.2%). Basically, out of 10 citizens who appealed to about 8, the fine was canceled while only 2 had to pay it ». It is also pointed out that «the number of applicant citizens is notoriously very low (does not exceed 4% at most). This means that if 953 Calabrian citizens in the first half of 2023 decided to appeal against the fine received, probably 22,872, in the best case, decided to pay the fine without making an appeal and, among these, most likely 17,795 could have paid an illegitimate fine . All this is combined with the fact that the sanctioning bodies almost never use the proceeds obtained from these tools for road maintenance and safety measures as well as to enhance control activities as required by law but, almost always, these resources are used for purposes that have nothing to do with security”.