Filenews 31 August 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The first four fixed cameras were installed in Nicosia over the weekend for testing, while the tests for mobile phones that will check speed both in cities and on motorways has also begun.
The procedures for the implementation of the system are running at a fast pace so that the American company that undertook to place and manage the project is within the timescales. As the assistant director of the Traffic Department at the Police Headquarters, Harris Evripidou, told "F", the first phase of the photo-labelling system will begin on October 25th and for one month there will be a grace period for drivers. As Mr. Evripidou explained, the system will start operating normally from October 25th and drivers who violate the speed limit, instead of taking an out-of-court order, for the next 30 days, will receive a warning letter at home. Then, the notifications will normally be sent by registered letter for the extrajudicial documents to the addresses of the offenders. They will have to pick them up from the Post Office.
Also, according to the deputy director of the Traffic Police, from the next few days a campaign will be launched to inform the public about the system so that they can drive properly and comply with the Highway Code.
The first four fixed cameras were placed in the traffic lights at the intersection of Griva Digenis and Demosthenes Severis Avenues (Hoda lights) in Nicosia.
The American company Conduent State & Local Solutions, which won the tender for €35 million, has brought in specialists from abroad both for the installation and for the training of the personnel it will employ. According to the legislation, the system will be managed by the contractor of the project and now an attempt is being made to regulate so that employees of the company are entitled to send the out-of-court to the home of the offenders.
As Mr. Evripidou explained, the day after tomorrow, three bills related to the operation of the photo-labelling system will be discussed in the Committee on Transport of the House, in order to make the process more functional, although it can now operate without problems.
The bills regulate the following:
1) The authority is granted to the employees of the company that undertook the installation of the photo-labelling system, on the one hand, to operate and operate the cameras and, on the other hand, to issue and serve extrajudicial fines to persons who were recorded by the cameras.
2) A time limit of 90 days is set for the purpose of serving the notice that offers the opportunity to pay the extrajudicial fine for committing traffic offences, both to the registered owner of the vehicle and to the driver of the vehicle indicated by the owner.
3) In the event that the registered owner of the vehicle refuses to receive the notice for payment of the extrajudicial fine, then, it will be presumed that it was normally received and in case the extrajudicial fine indicated on it is not paid, then it will be prosecuted. In the event that the addressee of the notice, who is the registered owner of the vehicle, claims that he is not the offending driver, he will be obliged to notify in writing the competent operator of photo-labelling devices, within 15 days of receipt of the notice, with the finding of the photo-labelling device, giving the details of the offending driver. Otherwise, the proceedings will continue against the registered owner.
4) The prosecution and the imposition of a penalty on legal persons (companies) that are registered owners of a vehicle, with which a traffic offence was committed recorded by a photo-labelling device. In addition to the legal person itself, the legal person's advisers or co-users, will be liable for this offence.
According to the bills, if the Post Office fails twice within 90 days to serve a driver of the off-court, then its delivery will be taken over by the managing company. When it also fails, then as a last resort the Police will take over to proceed with the service. If there is still a failure, then the case will be registered with the Court of Justice.
It is noted that the Traffic Police will indicate to the contractor the points at which both the fixed and the mobile will be placed, for which the points will change every day. The mobile phones will be based on a base (tripod) will record the violations that will be sent to the central system and from there the extrajudicial will come out.
In total, 90 fixed cameras will be installed in the three phases of the system in 30 locations throughout Cyprus. These are mainly to be placed at the road junctions in all the cities in which accidents and especially fatal accidents occur. No cameras will be placed in the Famagusta district because there is no city, but there will be mobile cameras.
It is also planned to purchase 20 mobile cameras, which will be placed on sidewalks or in the safety lane of the motorways, both in the urban and interurban network. Emphasis with mobile cameras will be given to places where drivers develop high speeds both in cities and in the countryside, but also in places where accidents occur frequently.
With the second phase, another 16 mobile and 20 fixed cameras will be installed. In the third phase, 66 more fixed cameras will be installed. This will be done within 12 months after completing the first phase. The entire process along with the procurement and installation of the equipment will take place within about two years and will be completed in 2023.
Incidentally, it is stated that the whole system will be managed by the contractor company and the role of the Traffic Police will be limited to the management of the personal data of the offenders, so that there is no violation of them by individuals.
