Filenews 20 January 2024
The numbers are vertigo-inducing in terms of the two years of operation of cameras in our country, but the results in reducing deaths on the roads are sufficiently encouraging.
The photo-tagging system has come to reduce deaths on the roads, it seems that this is largely achieved, despite the murmurs, justified or not, from drivers.
The managing company may have had its problems with the system in the beginning, the camera operators may have done their head by setting up the vans with the mobile cameras at bus stops, behind bushes, without warning signs, but the goal was achieved.
An 18% decrease in road deaths in 2022 and a decrease of three fatalities last year, from 37 in 2022, decreased to 34 in 2023, which is the lowest number since statistics were kept.
According to the latest data of the system, in the first two years of operation of the cameras (their operation began on 1/1/2022 with four mobile and four fixed) 357,870 violations have been recorded and 279,751 have been issued to date. Of these, 233,572 have been paid, while another 42,179 remain unpaid, meaning they will be brought to justice.
The data shows that a large number of incidents recorded by the cameras are pending, either to identify the owner of the vehicle, or until it is clear who was driving it when it comes to companies, or the recording was made by a system error, or related to an emergency.
A total of 124,298 incidents recorded by the system in 2022 and 2023 are pending for clearance. As the assistant director of Traffic Police at the Police Headquarters, Haris Evripidou, told "F", the study of the data may seem large, but there is a decrease in complaints over time, since from the 800 complaints recorded by each camera per quarter, Now these have been reduced to 200. This means, he explained, that drivers began to comply, and that was what the installation of the system was all about.
As Mr. Evripidou points out, the biggest problem that exists is with locating the real address of the offending driver. If a letter is incorrectly registered in the databases or an item, then there is a problem so that the out-of-court document cannot be sent. Especially for companies, there is a long delay, since letters are sent to managers to indicate the driver, they may not locate him or records of who was driving on that day and time may not be kept, resulting in difficulties.
A problem still remains with drivers who refuse to go to the post office and collect their extrajudicial document, which is why legislation is being promoted to consider that the driver became aware of the out-of-court case pending against him, either by sending an sms to his mobile phone or by e-mail.
According to data from the Traffic Police, for 2022 a total of 86.646 extrajudicial notices were issued as follows: For zone 199, for helmet 11, for other object 82, for mobile 460, for violation of traffic signs 13.646, for traffic lights (red) 4.564 and speed 65.684.
For 2023, 191,105 extrajudicial notices were issued as follows: Zones 147, helmet 73, other object 150, mobile 727, traffic signs 17,303, traffic lights 22,745 and speed 149,960. Of the 191,105 out-of-court cases issued by the system for 2023, most concerned Nicosia, where most fixed and mobile cameras were operating. Specifically, 81,432 were issued for Nicosia, 54,071 for Limassol, 30,099 for Larnaka, 6,341 for Famagusta and 19,162 for Paphos.
It is noted that in Paphos the cameras will operate from Monday, so the complaints made are only from mobile cameras, as in Larnaka, since only last month they were placed in fixed points.
Complaints in general in 2023
Police complaints for 2023 about drivers who move on the road network violating traffic rules and are not related to cameras are also important.
Specifically, last year there were 59,000 complaints for violation of the speed limit, 4,752 complaints for driving under the influence of alcohol, 7,113 complaints for seat belts, 1,653 complaints for drivers without helmets and 775 complaints for violation of traffic lights.
Cameras in 13 more locations by March
The second phase of the system that we are going through now and is the last, began on 1/9/2023 and the installation works are expected to be completed on 7/3/2024. In Phase B, 66 fixed cameras will be installed at 23 locations. The total number of cameras will rise to 90 fixed cameras at 30 points plus the 20 mobile ones that operate at full capacity. It remains to install cameras at 10 locations in Limassol, two points in Nicosia and one on Alaminou Street in Larnaca.
According to a note of the Ministry of Justice submitted to Parliament in the context of the budget, since the beginning of the program, various problems have been identified related to the contractual obligations of the Contractor Company and problems that affect the smooth operation of the system, such as the misuse of mobile cameras, the non-updated databases, The service of extrajudicial / letters, as well as communication with the public. In order to address the problems encountered during the use of mobile cameras, the Police, according to the Ministry, has (a) trained the operators of the cameras, (b) prepared instructions for the use and installation of the cameras, (c) has checked all the points where the mobile cameras are placed, (d) equipment has been delivered to its members to check with GPS the points where the cameras are placed and (e) a monthly program is being prepared to check the points where the cameras are placed by officers.
For databases, a provision has been included in the bill prepared by the Ministry of Transport, so that updated data are used, as the current situation makes it incredibly difficult to identify vehicle owners, either by post office or by subsidians.
Also, many changes were made to extract and use data from other databases. For the performance of extrajudicial proceedings, an application has been prepared by the Police so that service can be made at airports, ports and elsewhere. In order for the application to be operational, the contractor is expected to submit a relevant proposal to the contracting authority.
In order to address several of the problems identified, a relevant bill has been prepared which is currently under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and will be sent to the Legal Service for legislative scrutiny. According to the bill, the submission of which has been delayed since last summer, another procedure with company drivers is foreseen to overcome the problems.
