FOLLOWING public outcry over the punitive use of speed traps, police chief Andreas Angelides has ordered warning signs to tell motorists they are approaching a radar, Politis reported yesterday.
Chief of traffic police George Voutounos has confirmed that his department intends to tip off motorists to upcoming speed traps with permanent signs reading ‘radar’.
Presently, there is no legal obligation for police to warn of radar checks.
However, parliament did pass a more general law last year approving an amendment to the relevant law that states warning signs must be posted two and half kilometres from a speed trap warning drivers they will be penalised if they exceed the speed limit.
In a separate development, the chief of traffic police has also given orders for officers to issue motorists a written statement when an offence is not deemed serious enough for an actual penalty, said the Politis article. Police have handed out 50 such warnings since the practice began on June 1.
Politis has been running a campaign on the issue this week, arguing speed traps are being used to collect fines rather than increase safety. The paper claims some hidden traps could even cause accidents by forcing motorists to slam on the brakes when they finally catch sight of a hidden police trap.
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.
