Filenews 13 July 2024 - by Michalis Hadjivassilis
Only two of the nine bills of MPs in relation to the photo-labelling system (traffic cameras) are agreed by the Road Safety Council, rejecting the rest, either because of conflict with the law or because they are not consistent with the deterrent effect of penalties.
The Council, through the chairman of the Minister of Transport, Alexis Vafeadis, gave its position on the nine proposals after the meeting of the parliamentary committee on transport on June 27, so that MPs would have knowledge before a final decision was taken. The lawmakers' bills were tabled after drivers complained about cameras out of court, allegations of injustice with the arrow on the right, that many are at risk of losing their driver's license, while people are unable to pay the out-of-court fee.
According to Mr. Vafeadis' reply to the Parliament, obtained by "F", two of the bills submitted by AKEL and ELAM provide for the payment of the extrajudicial fee in instalments, something that the Road Safety Council rejects out of hand. Citing constitutional reasons, the Council disagrees with their promotion, stressing that the adoption/implementation of this measure requires an assessment of each request for repayment by instalments, based on specific criteria (financial and/or other) that should be set by the competent authority issuing the extrajudicial fine.
It is noted that the number of extrajudicial fines each year exceeds 200,000, without taking into account the increase resulting from the operation of the photo-labelling system, which amount to about 1,700 per day. Therefore, it is expected that if implemented, incomplete monitoring will result. It should be noted that, if the infringement is brought before a court, the Court already has the power to determine, whenever it deems appropriate, the payment of the fine by instalments.
The Road Safety Council and the proposal for a law by the Pafos MP of DIKO, Chrysanthos Savvides, for non-prosecution or to serve a written notice for an out-of-court regulation, in case of violation of non-compliance with rules on traffic lights or violation of the speed limit, when the driver of the vehicle is a trainee and drives during his training, is unconstitutional. is established by the Constitution – Article 28 (1) – as all citizens are equal before the law and therefore must be treated equally.
On the crucial issue of installing a timer in traffic lights with cameras, the Council expresses its strong disagreement with two bills by AKEL and ELAM MPs. As noted, an investigation conducted by the competent Departments of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and the Police has established the following:
(a) The application of timekeeper systems for the movement of vehicles at photo-controlled junctions has been shown to operate mainly in Asian and Balkan countries, with their effectiveness unclear. The systems in operation in these countries are applied only to photo-controlled confluences with a predetermined (fixed) time and without the operation of a photo-labelling system. It is noted that all photo-controlled inputs in which a photo-labelling system has been installed in Cyprus will soon be upgraded to operate with traffic-activated settings, i.e. the duration of each indicator will be adjusted in real time based on traffic and will not be predefined (fixed) as it is in the above countries, a setting that technically allows the application of a timer.
(b) In a test application carried out in Poland in 2022 at three photo-controlled contributions, it was shown that the timekeeper function for the remaining green time resulted in increased speeds and violation of the yellow light. The increase in speed was observed when drivers perceived that they had too little time to pass at green or yellow lights. This has resulted in a reduction in the level of road safety at these junctions and a consequent increase in road collisions.
(c) In a recent meeting (June 2023) held at the Department of Public Works with a British expert in the installation/operation of traffic lights, the Department was informed that in the United Kingdom, where a photo-labelling system has been operating for years, no timekeeper has been installed at any point.
(d) No research centre appears to have conducted research into the effectiveness of a timer system for vehicles for green time.
6,000 drivers at risk of disqualification
The Council also considers unconstitutional the second proposal of MP Chrysanthos Savvides, which provides for the increase, from 12 to 20, of the penalty points on the basis of which the Court has the power to order, inter alia, the deprivation of the right to possess or obtain a person's driving license. The Council considers that this imposes on the Court the type and degree of penalty, which is unconstitutional.
According to the Road Safety Council, the penalty points and generally the penalties imposed on traffic offenders since October 1, 2020, when the increased penalties for traffic offenses came into force, had positive effects, since by the end of 2023 a significant decrease in road deaths had been recorded. Specifically, compared to the respective road deaths recorded in 2019 (52) and 2020 (48), in 2023 (34) there was a decrease of 35% and 30% respectively.
A recent police survey shows that offenders whose penalty points are 9 (and therefore risk deprivation of their driving license with yet another offence) constitute 1% of all drivers nationwide, corresponding to approximately 6,000 offenders, a number that does not justify the adoption of MP Chrysanthos Savvides' proposal. It is noted that in November 2023 the legislation has been amended so that the deletion of penalty points takes place after two instead of three years. Any additional relaxation that reduces the deterrent effect of the penalty may be a setback in the effort to further comply with the aim of reducing serious road traffic collisions resulting in fatalities and serious injuries, the Road Safety Council notes.
The Council agrees only with two bills by DISY MPs Fotini Tsiridou and Onoufrios Koullas, which provide for an increase, from 30 days from the date of issue of the notice to 60 days from the date of service of the notice, of the deadline for the payment of an extrajudicial fine and acceptance of penalty points, as well as an extension of the period for prosecution against a person who has not paid an extrajudicial fine from 45 to 60 days. However, it disagrees with granting a deduction in case of payment of the fine within 30 days, increasing the amount of the fine in case of non-payment within the set deadline and laying down a procedure for serving the notice on the actual offender.
278,586 out of court cases in 17 months
According to a response to the proposal for a law by two DISY MPs for the suspension of penalty points at traffic lights from January 1, 2023 until May 31, 2024, the Minister of Transport states that during this period, according to data from the Traffic Police, 278,586 extrajudicial documents have been issued, of which 203,791 (approximately 73%) had been paid and charged with penalty points.
It is his position that this is not feasible since the retroactive deletion of penalty points creates legal and procedural problems, complexities and difficulties, while issues of unequal treatment of offenders may also arise. Also, according to the position of the Legal Service before the Commission, the suspension of the imposition of sentences is unconstitutional as it is an interference of the legislative power in the judicial and executive branches (separation of powers).