Filenews 3 December 2024
Installation of cameras on vehicle dashboards (dashcam) to record the image prevailing on the route of each driver, to record accidents and by extension who is responsible, but also for preventive purposes, suggests MP Stavros Papadouris.
The installation is not mandatory, so drivers will not be obliged to install cameras but those who have them in their vehicles will, under the proposal, be able to use them by submitting their content as witness material before the Court.
The issue will be dealt with ex officio by the Parliamentary Committee on Transport next Thursday, along with the draft law by MP Dimitris Demetriou which provides that drivers of vehicles involved in accidents move them immediately, so as not to obstruct traffic and inconvenience dozens or even hundreds of drivers at a time. Of course, the drivers will photograph the scene beforehand and exchange their data and all this will be forwarded to the insurance companies of the vehicles involved.
Mr Demetriou's proposal leaves a gap as to who is responsible, since it is a common phenomenon for the drivers involved to make diametrically opposite claims and versions that the circumstances of the accident and this gap seems to be filled by Mr Papadouris' proposal.
Mr. Papadouris acknowledges that there is a legislative vacuum while he knows that there is also an issue of a possible personal data breach, which is why he asked that the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Mrs. Irene Loizidou, be invited before the Commission to give her light or suggest possible ways to overcome the problem. The Member has already been in contact with the Commissioner, who in the past has been reluctant to use cameras, which is not allowed by law.
Papadouris told Filenews that the Commissioner's presence will be helpful in preparing a proposal for a law that will address the issue of personal data, since the aim is not to violate them.
He said that in addition to the cameras reinforcing Mr. Demetriou's proposal, in case of legislation they will also simplify the procedure followed after accidents.
He also noted that the content of the cameras could be used for other incidents, adding that if someone knows that they are installed and functioning and their content can be used in court, their use can act as a preventive or even deterrent.
He also believes that it is possible for cameras to be helpful in other incidents. This includes the use of police force. Cameras can clarify the landscape when the opposite claim is made, i.e. when a citizen claims that violence was used against him and the police officer claims that the victim is himself and not the citizen.
Papadouris also said that abroad cameras on motorcycle dashboards or helmets work with positive results for citizens, since their recording can also be used as testimony in the courts.
Another aspect in which, according to Mr. Papadouris, the camera can be useful, concerns the actual data in recordings from the photo-tagging cameras. He wondered how a driver would prove that he broke the law either to facilitate an ambulance or to protect a pedestrian or even to prevent an accident.
It is noted that any approval of the content of the cameras will also lead to the simplification of judicial procedures when diametrically opposed positions are expressed regarding an examined incident, while the trial time of cases for which witnesses are currently called, examined, cross-examined, postponed will be reduced.
Asked about this, Papadouris said that he himself is in favour of regulating the issue in such a way that personal data is not affected. The recordings should be used as evidence and not for other purposes, Papadouris said, noting that today, anyway, many cameras are used without approval.
The main purpose of the purchase and installation of cameras on dashboards and helmets by citizens is to record evidence in case of any incident that occurs whether the vehicle is in motion or parked.
Abroad, these cameras are also used to detect anyone who tries to damage a vehicle or even steal it.
