Some 400 motorists are reported every day for traffic violations by the island’s recently introduced traffic camera network, the police said on Wednesday.
According to a report prepared by the Traffic Department, the camera network has reported some 247,747 violations in the 21 months since going live in January 2022.
Tickets have been issued for some 178,000 violations, while the rest are company vehicles for which letters have been sent to their management requesting details about the driver.
Of the 178,000 out-of-court fines sent out, 91,000 have been paid, while payment for 12,000 is pending.
The remaining 75,000 fines have not yet been delivered, as the department notes in the report, due to the reluctance of offending motorists to come forward and collect the fine after receiving a registered notice through the post.
According to the report, 143,000 motorists were reported for speeding and some 22,000 for not stopping before the stop line at junctions.
Another 13,000 motorists were reported for running a red light.
Road deaths reduced
In comments to Phileleftheros daily, the acting head of the traffic department, Charis Evripides, defended the system, arguing that a 40% reduction in road deaths is attributable to the use of traffic cameras.
Evripides said that some 18 deaths were recorded on Cyprus’ roads so far in 2023, whereas in the same period last year the number of fatalities was 30.
The officer added that the junctions where mobile cameras are set up have recently been revised, factoring in the frequency of accidents and risk levels.
Meanwhile, Evripides also commented on complaints by motorists reporting that penalties do not fit the offence, as they are too high.
Specifically, as argued by motorists, paying €300 for running a red light is too high, putting pressure on households that barely make ends meet.
The officer said that the traffic department would have no objection should the authorities decide to lower the penalty.
Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades recently admitted that tough penalties “have created stress amongst motorists, who avoid passing through junctions monitored by the system fearing that they will be caught”.
Vafeades said that the authority will be looking into whether there is room for pushing penalties down.
