Potential traffic camera violators still in the dark

Motorists in the Republic of Cyprus have yet to receive traffic camera citations under a new system on the island, with reports of “procedural delays” pointing to a previous discussion over legal doubts.

Not a single registered letter with a traffic citation has been sent out to potential traffic violators, according to Philenews, with a report saying cases have been piling up since January 1.

Last October law enforcement authorities re-launched a number of mobile and fixed cameras to monitor traffic, promising the public that fines would not start being issued until 1 January 2022, essentially giving a two-month grace period for violators to get used to the system and receive proper warnings in the mail.

The grace period came and went without potential violators ever getting notified with a warming, while last year traffic police deputy chief Charis Evripidou clarified the operation had been stalled due to procedural issues of a sensitive nature that were expected to be resolved “in a matter of days."

But Philenews reported on Tuesday actual citations have yet to be mailed out, citing comments from officials who said the delays were due to “procedural issues expected to be cleared in the next few days.”

The report went on to explain that there were several checks along the process that had to take place in order to make sure only the intended recipient can receive a citation while also avoiding sending a notice to the wrong person or wrong address.

According to Evripidou, the four fixed and four mobile cameras currently in use have been flagging over 800 violations per day, with the mobile units recording mainly speed violations and the traffic light locations spotting other violations.

Traffic police said the company handling the system needed more time than the original estimated period, according to Philenews.

There have also been suggestions that delays could also be due to difficulty in confirming physical mailing addresses of motorists due to inconsistency or bad record keeping, as well as time needed to calculate penalty points in cases when more than one violation is being alleged in the citation.