Meet Fleximan, the modern Robin Hood waging war on speed cameras

3 min read

For the past months, a mysterious man dubbed Fleximan by his motorist fans has been disabling speed cameras in several Italian regions by cutting their supporting metal poles with an angle grinder.
The tool was invented in 1954 by a German company called Flex, and even today, in many European countries, it is popularly known, not by chance, as a “flex”.
However, little did the creators of this useful tool know that many decades later, the flex would inspire the nickname of a vigilante specializing in disabling speed traps on the roads of Italy by taking an angle grinder to the metal poles supporting them.

Fleximan first made news headlines in May of last year, 2023, when he took down his first speed trap on a road near Bosaro, in Italy’s Veneto region, near Rovigo.
Since then, he managed to disable at least seven other cameras in the same area using his signature angle grinder, and authorities still have no idea who he is or how to stop him.
Fleximan carries out his missions in the dead of night, usually between 1 and 2 in the morning, approaching roadside speed cameras and taking its flex to the base of the metal poles supporting them.
He has been dubbed also “the motorists’ vigilante”, and many drivers do see him as a sort of modern Robin Hood fighting against the system, but for authorities, Fleximan is nothing more than a menace causing tens of thousands of euros in damages and allegedly making roads less safe.
Either way for the mysterious character and the people rooting for him things are pretty simple: too many municipal and provincial administrations have made speed cameras sprout like mushrooms, placing them in the most bizarre places, except where they would actually be needed, more concerned with refilling their own coffers than ensuring road safety and preventing road accidents.

The provincial coordinator of the local police workers’ union labeled Fleximan as a criminal but expressed his hope that his popularity with motorists would make certain administrations reflect on the use and abuse of certain tools, as well as on the correct use of the local police, who deserve better than being relegated to the role of tax collector.
The Italian press also reported that Fleximan’s exploits in Rovigo and Veneto have inspired similar actions by disgruntled motorists in other parts of Italy, with some opting to blow up speed traps, others pelting them with large rocks, and some copying his modus operandi.

Article 635 of the Italian Penal Code mentions a prison sentence of six months to three years for anyone who destroys, deteriorates, or makes other people’s property unusable, but in order to enforce this punishment, prosecutors must first analyze the little clues they have to discover Fleximan’s true identity, now a beacon of hope for Italian motorists, many of whom are frustrated with having to pay hefty speeding tickets.
Fleximan is believed to have a hit on the night between 23 and 24 December 2023, when two speed cameras were knocked down on the ring road near the Corso Savona junction, in Asti, Piemonte Region, and another in January 2024, close to Padova, always in Veneto region.