Filenews 4 September 2025 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The number of cases registered in the Courts and concerning unpaid out-of-court cases by the Traffic Police cameras reached six thousand, while new ways are also coming to facilitate the service of fines.
According to data from the Traffic Police, from the time the phototagging system began to operate until today, those cases that were served on the offenders but failed to pay their fee were sent to the Courts for trial within the predetermined time.
Criminal prosecution for offender drivers is the last resort for the collection of extrajudicial fines and the Courts already impose double or even triple the amount of a fine for someone who failed to pay it.
It is noted that in recent months the registration of cases in the Courts has increased after the warning for those who knew that they had out-of-court but did not receive them to pay them.
In the meantime, the public consultation on the bill prepared by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works amending the Traffic Offences (Use of Photolabelling Devices and Other Related Matters) Laws of 2001 until 2025 has ended.
With the bill, as "F" has already written, it will be allowed to inform the driver about the existence of an out-of-court case by cameras, via sms and email, not only by registered mail from the post office.
In this way, it will be considered that the driver has received notification of the existence of an out-of-court case and if he does not react to it, criminal prosecution can be brought against him.
Also, in addition to photographs, the cameras will also be allowed to record the driver or his vehicle on video, in case of a traffic offence recorded by a fixed photolabelling device, at an intersection, at the time of activation of the device.
The issues of who is responsible in case of a leased vehicle complaint are also clarified, since there are a lot of complaints that "do not progress" because the driver has not been identified and it is not clear who bears responsibility since the driver who committed the violation is not indicated.
On this issue, there are several reservations, mainly on the part of company executives, who are in danger of losing their driving licenses, since it is not possible to identify which driver was driving at the time a violation was recorded.
Objections were expressed by EMEL Limassol, the city's bus management company, regarding the point where it is stated that in case the registered owner of the vehicle indicates the offending driver and he does not accept the commission of the offence or is not detected, the proceedings will continue against the registered owner.
EMEL's position is that this provision is not effective and "condemns" the directors of companies, such as passenger transport companies in Cyprus.
EMEL for example, he says, has 257 drivers at the moment. It operates more than 600 regular routes daily plus 308 on days when schools are open.
"From our experience from 2022 to date, we have about 150 complaints about violations recorded by fixed photo-tagging cameras in Limassol. Many times, the photos are of very poor quality and from a distance, so that even with maximum effort we cannot recognize the driver's face due to poor quality of the photos, despite any processing we carry out. Also, many times (depending on the intersection and the time) because the windscreens of the buses are large, strong reflections are created that completely cover the driver's position, so that it is not at all visible who the driver is. Also, he notes, many times the schedules of the routes and drivers are changed at the last minute, so in these cases, it is not possible to see the driver's face, we cannot be sure who the driver should be. Should it be the fault of the director or the member of the board in whose name the notice of infringement comes", he wonders.
Finally, it is mentioned that in the case of EMEL, all members of the Board of Directors will lose their driver's license in less than a year, because the cameras do not have anti-reflective filters or we have low-resolution photos.
In these cases, our suggestion is to avoid the easy solution of convicting the directors and to introduce into the legislation an additional clarification procedure in cases of legal persons, when the photographs are not suitable for identifying the driver.
The bill also provides for severe penalties for those who cause damage or obstruct vans with mobile cameras or warning signs.
