Traffic cam violations reach 215,000

Violations caught by the traffic camera network increased to 215,000 since the system came online last year, up by 35,000 in six weeks, a senior police official said.

Road safety officer Yiorgos Milis said a new set of traffic cams were activated on Friday, the first in Limassol, at the popular ‘Ariel’ junction.

Another set of four cameras will be activated at the Archbishop Makarios-Nikos Pattichi traffic lights by next week; he told CyBC radio.

Milis said Nicosia has traffic cams installed at five junctions, and there will be 90 cameras in operation by the end of the year, in addition to 20 mobile units.

Based on the contract given to US operators Conduent State & Local Solutions, the first phase of the traffic camera network was expected to be completed by the end of the month, but with minor technical delays.

Once authorities tick off phase A, they will move to the second stage, which includes the installation of another 24 fixed cameras in seven locations, while another 16 mobile cameras will be received by the end of 2023.

With the completion of the second phase, the number of fixed and mobile cameras will total 20 mobile and 90 fixed cameras in 30 locations.

Legal issues

Traffic cameras were first introduced 14 years ago, but technical and legal issues over the ownership of the platform and collection of fines forced the government to switch them off.

Cyprus has adopted the European target of a 50% reduction in road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.

Cameras record traffic light and speed limit violations, plus secondary offences such as not wearing a seatbelt or crash helmet and talking on the phone while driving.

Fines are issued by the system operator, a private company, US-based Conduent State and Local Solutions Inc.

The €34 mln project has Cyprus Police feeling confident that re-introducing traffic cameras will reduce road accident-related deaths.

When Cyprus introduced speed cameras in 12 locations in 2007, road accidents fell by over 50%.