THREE-hundred-and-twenty-five people were caught by the traffic cameras on their first day of official snapping, the police revealed yesterday.
Spokeswoman Chrystalla Demetriou told the Mail that Wednesday saw 65,697 vehicles passing through cameras in all towns except Larnaca, with all figures being for speeding and jumping red lights.
Most of the infringements (229) took place at Nicosia’s ‘Kalispera’ traffic lights at the entrance and exit of the highway, where many drivers were caught double offending – speeding through red lights.
The majority of the offences took place between midnight and the early hours of the morning.
Costas Papadopoulos, who is in charge of the photo-radar system, told the Mail that once an offender has been identified, he or she will be notified by the police, “in not more than a week. They will have 15 days to pay the fine, otherwise it will increase by 50 per cent. If the fine has not been paid after 30 days, court proceedings will be initialised.”
Personal Data Commissioner Youlla Frangou, however, expressed concern over personal data infringements after a private television station claimed it had received information from a police officer that a camera had caught the car of Charalambos Koulentis, with the police chief inside, committing a traffic offence.
Frangou said the issue for her was not the accuracy of the information but whether a police officer had leaked it.
She said she would be asking for reassurances from the police on personal data stored on their camera database and who has access to it.
Responding, Koulentis said that, “no violation of personal data has taken place as there is no data to violate.” When asked by a reporter to comment further, he snapped.
“You tell me,” he said. “Why are you asking me this as it is the media who have reported it? I won’t get into this any more and as far as I am concerned, the matter is closed.”
He also stated that the police database which stores information on offenders, “is totally secure.”
The police also poured cold water on claims that motorists have been using special sprays to mask their number plates. Papadopoulos said the police, “have tested these sprays, costing around £20, on their own cars and found them not to work. So far, we have not encountered any vehicle whose plate has been hidden from the cameras.”
A simple search on the internet however, found numerous sites advertising, “proven formulas that reflect the radar flash back at the camera, overexposing the image and rendering the licence plate invisible.” They claim to work on any plate worldwide.
