In Italy, a nation renowned for driving fast, there’s a vigilante-superhero who’s been cutting down speed cameras across the country; Fleximan. The Italian world for angle grinder is ‘flessibile’ and the tool Fleximan is using to chop down poles that speed cameras are attached to. In the heat of the night, at the scene of the crime, like a streak of light, Fleximan does what is right!
Some call him a vandal (he is destroying government property) but his actions seem to appeal to the Italian publics, frustrated at what’s seen as an unofficial tax. In fact, Italy has the highest number of speed cameras in Europe.
The Italian media speculates that Fleximan is not an individual solitary “hero”, but several like-minded individuals. The notion is based on the fact that many nights, speed cameras in far-away towns are destroyed almost simultaneously. And they’re not just using angle-grinders; speed cameras have been destroyed with explosives, firearms and agricultural machinery. Despite the danger of these actions, Fleximan is very popular in Italy, and in the town of Padua, a mural honouring Fleximan (well…Uma Thurman from Kill Bill) depicting the vigilante with a sword in one hand and a speed camera in the other. Fleximan has become a Robin Hood type figure battling tyranny.
The first Fleximan starting waging his war in 2023, destroying 15 speed cameras across the Veneto region within eight months. Recently, a copycat Fleximan in his 50s was identified by police, yet 11 newly installed cameras were torn down within 24 hours. The phenomenon is growing.
Police have even installed surveillance cameras to watch the speed cameras, and to attempt to capture Feximan. Authorities fear that if they catch one Fleximan, he’ll become a martyr, and be replaced by five more!
Some mayors in Italy position speed cameras on dangerous roads, while others put them everywhere to balance the books. Some local governments made a lot of money from fines, and drivers are exasperated by the fines. They see Fleximan as a hero getting rid of a menace.