Filenews 8 August 2025 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
A serious issue with the users of rental vehicles arises regarding the handling of complaints by the traffic police cameras.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of unserved out-of-court cases for "Z" drivers because sufficient information is not given to locate them, resulting in tourists leaving Cyprus and if they are rented by residents on the island, they will not be located.
The problem with complaints from the photo-labelling system for rental vehicle drivers has been highlighted since the early stages of the cameras' operation. An attempt was made to resolve it under the ministry of Yiannis Karousos, but there were reactions and an arrangement was made with the rental agencies.
However, as it emerges from the practice so far, "Z" drivers are recorded by cameras violating either the speed limit or the red light at traffic lights and escaping any consequences, since they are not detected.
As reported to "F" by a competent source, some car rental agencies give the company that manages the out-of-court cases the name and the hotel where the tourist who committed the violation is staying. When he is searched for in the hotel, then it is most likely that he will not be located, either because the reservation may have been made in another name or he may have already departed from our country. As a result of the incomplete data, out-of-court cases are piled up and offenders escape it, creating an inequality between those who pay and those who in one way or another have no consequences when they are illegal.
The Police have already requested the amendment of the legislation in order to oblige the managers of the car rental agencies to provide specific information regarding car renters and at the same time to transfer the responsibility to the offices themselves, if they do not do so and the out-of-court case remains undelivered.
Abroad, either, the tenant is forced to pay a deposit for any damages or fines from cameras or gives all the information they need, so that the out-of-court "finds" him in his country and is forced to pay for it electronically.
As for the Turkish Cypriots who are denounced by the system but there is no address for the service of extrajudicial documents, the preparation of a list is promoted which, after being processed, will be handed over to the barricades so that the control can be carried out there. If someone is found to have an out of court pending against him, then he will be served on the spot and then everything that applies to other citizens will apply. In the more than three and a half years of operation of the system, thousands of extrajudicial notices concerning Turkish Cypriot vehicles have been issued, but they have not been paid since the necessary service was not performed.
