Flenews 14 August 2024
Two lists of those who do not receive their fines from the cameras of the Traffic Police are being prepared and will soon be ready for use in key posts.
These are the photoradar list and the list of Turkish Cypriot vehicles denounced by the photo-labelling system. Asked about the whereabouts of these two issues, the assistant head of the Traffic Department at the Police Headquarters and responsible for the photo-tagging system for the Police, Haris Evripidou, said that the issue is progressing with the photoradar list, that is, the list that will include the people who were notified about their extrajudicial by post. They did not come to pick it up.
The other list concerns Turkish Cypriots who are denounced by cameras and do not live in the free areas. This list of about 20,000 vehicle numbers is ready and will be given at the barricades and airports so that those entering and leaving the free areas can be checked if any extrajudicial proceedings are pending against them. To do this, Evripidou said, police officers should be placed at checkpoints specifically for this purpose.
Regarding the photoradar list, the assistant head of the Traffic Police said that once the approval is given, the systems at airports and ports will be connected, so that when someone tries to travel, he will be informed that an out-of-court case against him is pending from the cameras. Specifically, at the point where someone places his identity card or passport and prints the card with his data and photo, it will be indicated that an out-of-court case is pending against him. Then he will have to go to a special office, he will be served with the extrajudicial document at that time and then he will depart.
This list, apart from airports and ports, will operate in all police offices with which the citizen comes into contact, so as to check if an out-of-court case is pending against him. As Mr. Evripidou noted, 50% of the extrajudicial cases received today are not paid, resulting in more than 100,000 pending. Those not received also reach about 100,000. However, it has been found that when some who did not receive their extrajudicial document are identified and served, then the majority pay for it, which shows that the omission of receipt has nothing to do with economic reasons but is from strategic behaviour.
The application of the electronic list with the names of those pending out of court from the photo-tagging system is pending for approval by the Central Committee for Changes and Claims, which is subordinate to the General Accounting Office of the Republic. The purpose is to evaluate the final cost for its implementation. So when the final cost is assessed and it is decided that a fund can be made available, the technical procedures will follow, which will take a few months. It is recalled that the intention of the Police was to put it into operation before the start of the summer season, but in the end it has not yet been approved.
At the same time, the Police decided to take a more active role in the service of undelivered extrajudicial cases in order to reduce their volume. According to the procedure, if someone does not collect their bill from the post office, then the company that manages the system takes over to identify the offender and deliver it to him. It can make up to two attempts and if it fails, then the police take action. Now it has been decided to intensify efforts to identify those who refuse to receive their exodus, in order to reduce the list that grows longer every day.
The U.S. company that runs the system also decided to increase subsidies to step up efforts to serve warrants not received by the post office. According to Mr. Evripidou, other solutions are being studied in order to reduce the volume of undeliverable extrajudicial cases.
In another development, it has been decided that informing the company about who was the real owner of a vehicle that was reported should be done electronically. As is the case today, when a vehicle was recorded by a camera, the extrajudicial notice was issued to the owner of the vehicle. Many times, however, this vehicle may have been driven by another person or owned by a company. In order for the system to know who the real driver was, the owner had to fill out a special form and send it to the company. Now the process will change and this will be done electronically to avoid hassle and unnecessary time.
This, as Mr. Evripidou explained, will also help identify the tourists who are reported and until the process is done they leave Cyprus.
1700 extrajudicial cases per day from 107 cameras
Today, 1700 drivers per day are reported by the 107 fixed and mobile cameras in operation. If this pace continues, it is expected that more than 600,000 drivers will be reported in a year's time, which will involve a huge amount of work to complete.
According to the traffic police officer, the majority of complaints concern exceeding the speed limit and then violating the red light.
According to the latest data of the Traffic Police, this year from the beginning of the year until today, 155,350 extrajudicial cases have been issued. Specifically, so far, 99,636 violations of the speed limit have been recorded, 33,945 extrajudicial violations concern violation of the red light, while for violation of the white line 20,413 violations were recorded.
At the same time, the cameras captured 1,087 people driving with non-free hands. This was found after they were first reported for another violation, either for exceeding the speed limit or for violating the red or white line. Of these, 884 involved mobile phone use and 203 related to cigarette or other object use.
Also, 91 cases were reported for failing to use a protective helmet, while for not wearing a seat belt 178 cases.
It is noted that at the moment there are still two pending issues in relation to the cameras. One concerns the three cameras that were installed at the junction of Agias Fylaxeos Street with Kyprianou Spyrou Street and their control and approval are expected to operate and the other concerns the placement of two cameras at the intersection where the quadruple fatality occurred in Polemidia on New Year's Day. This point is policed either by a mobile camera or by the physical presence of police officers, until the necessary procedures are made to move two cameras from other points and place them there.
It is noted that a number of proposals by MPs for reducing extrajudicial fees or for fines with instalments are pending in Parliament, but most are considered unconstitutional and only the one that provides for an increase in the payment time of an extrajudicial fee seems to be gaining ground.
