Filenews 25 January 2023
Last year's decrease in asphalt fatalities by 18% compared to 2021, for some it is accidental for others but it is largely attributed to the cameras. It cannot, of course, be a coincidence that last year in Nicosia we had the largest decrease in deaths compared to the previous year. We say in Nicosia, because only in the capital have fixed cameras worked, which has its significance. The drivers, as estimated by experts, keep in mind that in Nicosia there are cameras, so they automatically move carefully. There are, of course, those who do not count anything, as a result of which they break the law and risk their lives every day.
So, a few days ago, a year of operation of the photo-tagging system, the well-known cameras of the Traffic Police, was completed. The result of one year of operation is positive, when one considers that at the junction of the roads where the cameras have been installed, no road accident has occurred. Also, there has been huge compliance by drivers since the first stage of operation of the cameras at the junction of Grivas Digenis and Demosthenes Severis Avenues, but also by the four mobile cameras, an average of 1,200 violations per day were recorded daily. Now, a year later, the flashes of the cameras are lit about 300-400 times a day.
Nevertheless, neither the Traffic Police officials nor the Minister of Transport, Giannis Karousos, support the entire effort to reduce the number of fatalities on the roads, on cameras. They are also investing in a number of other actions, however, it is estimated that the cameras – when the system is fully operational and on a nationwide basis – will reduce accidents to a significant extent.
According to data provided to "F" by the assistant head of the Traffic Department at the Police Headquarters, Haris Evripidou, in the first year of operation of the eight cameras, 162,748 incidents have been recorded. Of these, 108,523 have been posted. This means that for the rest, a check is made to determine whether the offences recorded were correct or whether the driver of the vehicle with which the offence was committed can be identified.
As Mr Evripidou explained, there are many offences for which the registration plate cannot be seen exactly. That is, either the license plate does not look good for some reason, or part of it is hidden by an adjacent vehicle, or because the vehicle does not have registration plates. All these recordings should be considered in the end invalid and not counted. Also, sometimes the system, while it was damaged, continued to record vehicles passing through legally, so they too will be deleted, plus some others related to emergencies. It is estimated that about 25,000 violations will be deleted. It is noted that the Auditor General requested information about these violations, in order to examine whether they will be correctly deleted from the system.
According to the data, the assistant in charge of the Traffic Police added, the main illegality detected by the cameras is the exceeding of the speed limit, followed by the violation of the white line. For some reason, drivers either in the abstract or out of habit, stop on the white line, as a result of which they receive an out-of-court fee of €25. It is a bad habit of drivers in Cyprus that must be stopped so that pedestrian crossings at the photo-controlled junctions remain free. As pointed out, the majority of drivers stay behind the white line not only where there are cameras but also in the lights that do not exist, which indicates a general compliance on the part of drivers.
Also, according to the data provided by Mr. Evripidou, in 2022, 86,350 offenses have been identified for which an extrajudicial fine has been issued and the type of violation is as follows:
>> Speed limit exceeded: 67,112.
>> Red light violation: 4,646.
>> Violation of the white line: 13,825.
>> Mobile phone usage: 470.
>> Using another object: 83.
>> No seat belt: 203.
>> Helmetless: 11.
Another 36 cameras coming in 2023
Another 36 cameras, 20 fixed and 16 mobile, are expected to be received soon, but gradually. The managing company is ready to deliver them to the Electromechanical Service, but this will be done gradually, in order to check each fixed point that everything is running smoothly and at the same time to familiarize the drivers. This will also be done with mobile phones, so that the system is not overburdened and problems of managing violations arise.
The new locations where cameras were installed are four in Nicosia and two in Limassol. In the Nicosia district at the junctions controlled by traffic lights:
>> Makarios III Avenue – Spyrou Avenue Kyprianou.
>> Griva Digeni – Prodromou Avenue.
>> Limassol – Armenia Avenue.
>> Strovolos – Machairas Avenue.
The two intersections in the Limassol district are:
>> Archbishop Makarios Avenue – N. Pattichi.
>> Archbishop Makarios – Agia Zoni Avenue.
These points are not selected randomly, but according to Mr. Evripidou their selection was made on the basis of statistics because accidents often occur there and are considered black spots, or because there is the possibility to develop high speeds or because of the danger of the road. The finding of the head of the Traffic Police one year after the operation of the first cameras is that the majority of drivers now comply and do not break the law, while at the same time, several problems that had appeared initially in relation to the operation of the system have been corrected.
