The State Department of Road Infrastructure of Sergipe (DER/SE) announced this Tuesday, 2nd, that it was called by the community of the municipality of Feira Nova, in the middle sertão of Sergipe, last Monday, 1st, to collect the speed cameras. electronic surveillance that had been damaged by vandals on the SE-230 highway.
The following day, DER/SE collected the equipment that had suffered vandalism and reported that measures had already been taken and, soon, the radars would be replaced. “This act of vandalism, probably caused by drivers who insist on not wanting to respect the speed limits, is regrettable. Upon being informed of what had happened, we promptly sent a team to the location and removed the equipment so that it would not be lost”, explained DER/SE Traffic Manager, Geraldo Motta.
It is important to highlight that the destruction of electronic surveillance radars directly compromises efforts to curb speeding on dangerous stretches, in addition to putting the safety of drivers and pedestrians at risk and hindering traffic flow.
In 2023, four surveillance radars were damaged, and in 2024, so far, two, totaling six damaged equipment, which represents a significant loss to public coffers. Considering that each piece of damaged equipment costs around R$300,000 to be reinstalled, the State of Sergipe has already accumulated a loss of approximately R$1.8 million.
The vandals’ actions not only damage public property, but also put the lives of highway users at risk. DER/SE highlights that vandalism against electronic surveillance radars constitutes a crime, according to article 163 of the Penal Code. Therefore, the agency advises drivers to report any act of theft or vandalism to the electronic road surveillance radars through numbers 198 (Road Military Police Battalion) and 79 3253-1149/0800 284 9016 (DER/SE).
With information from ASN
