According to a report by CNN Portugal, only a month after they came into force, the 41 speed cameras in Lisbon generated at least €5.1 million in fines.

Data from Lisbon City Council (CML), in the first 30 days of operation (between 1 and 30 June), found that speed control equipment recorded 38,018 infractions. Which represents an average of 1,267 speeding violations per day on the streets of the capital.

Of the total of infractions, the municipality adds, 34,745 were considered serious and 3,246 very serious.

According to lawyer Sérgio Azevedo, an expert in the field, serious offenses for speeding are always between 120 and 600 euros in fine, with an accessory penalty of disqualification from driving between one month and one year. Within towns, this happens whenever you drive at a speed between 20 and 40 km/h faster than allowed.

Anyone who travels at a speed between 40 and 60 km/h above the legal limit, explains the lawyer, will receive a very serious administrative offense and will always have a driving disqualification sanction from two months to two years. This sanction is added to a fine that varies between 300 and 1,500 euros.

In view of these values, and taking into account the minimum value, this means that the fines in 30 days amount to 5.1 million euros: 4.1 million due to serious infractions and 973 thousand in very serious ones. This is based on the lowest values ​​for each type of fine - 120 euros for those caught in serious infractions and 300 for those detected by the radars in very serious situations. In other words, the real value of the total fines may still be much higher.

The municipality declined, however, to advance the total amounts of the fines, stressing that some of the infractions may concern ambulances or other emergency vehicles, such as the police.