Just over 100 people live in the Northern Italian village of Acquetico, and they all seem to like to drive really fast. The numbers coming in just two weeks after the local mayor set up temporary speed cameras are somewhat mind-blowing: more than 58,000 speeding violations in the town of 120, reports NPR, which averages out to nearly 500 violations in that period per person (if the residents are the ones doing the extra accelerating). A local newspaper reports that it appears about half of the cars zipping along the route through Acquetico were over the limit, per the BBC—the Local says it was more like a third—with many of the prime culprits doing so right in the middle of the day. The ANSA news agency reports the highest speed clocked in the 31mph zone was 84mph.
"It's really madness," Mayor Alessandro Alessandri says of the breakneck traffic detected by the speed experiment, which Sky News notes took place over a two-week period in September. He adds that the town's residents, especially older ones, have become fearful of crossing the street, per the Local. The appeal of racing through Acquetico may lie in the pristine condition of its roads: Of the three thoroughfares connecting the Piedmont region to the farther reaches of Northern Italy, the highway through Acquetico offers "ideal asphalt" and fewer speed bumps, tolls, and (until now) cameras, Alessandri notes. Even though the speed cameras were just supposed to be a trial, the mayor is now mulling keeping them up for good, considering drivers' penchant for putting the pedal to the metal. (It's not clear if anyone's blaming their speeds on roaming deer.)
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