DRIVERS around Nicosia yesterday questioned the effectiveness of a new law allowing cameras to photograph drivers committing traffic offences, after deputies ruled police would have to put up signs warning of the cameras’ presence.
Police say the cameras will significantly reduce offences such as speeding, but amendments to the bill, which was passed on Thursday, have caused some drivers to wonder whether the measures still have any teeth.
The amendments include warning signs being put up two to five kilometres before the camera.
In another change, offenders will be subpoenaed in person and not through the post, in response to fears that cameras could violate people’s privacy by capturing illicit affairs at the wheel. These fears have also led to provisions for photos to be electronically altered to show only the driver.
But one driver, 29-year-old Vassos Yiazos, said yesterday he believed the system would only be effective in slowing people down for a few kilometres: “It’s like when people flash their headlights to tell you there are police ahead, you slow down. When you get past, most people just speed up again.”
A female driver meanwhile told the Cyprus Mail she thought blacking out the passenger side of the vehicle was ridiculous: “Who knows why people cheat on their partners but if they are going to sneak around, why not just be careful not to break the law.”
The speed camera system, already widely employed overseas, captures drivers speeding past specific points, going through red lights or performing other traffic violations such as not wearing a seatbelt.
Tickets and a photograph of the car committing the offence will be given to its owner within 45 days and the offender is then given the choice of paying a fine or taking the matter to court.
The new system will only be introduced in 2002, since this year’s budget has not provided for the expense.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
