Warning to be sent to firm operating traffic cams, Karousos says (Update 2)

The company operating the traffic cameras system is to receive a warning from the government in the wake of a series of failures that are holding up the full implementation of the system, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said on Wednesday.

Those caught violating the traffic code may also receive a text message or email informing them of the fine, the minister added, explaining that they are looking into tweaking the relevant legislation.

The president on Wednesday hosted a meeting on the embattled traffic camera system to try and untangle the growing knot as the programme remains mired in its pilot phase.

President Nicos Anastasiades called in all the top stakeholders, ranging from the attorney-general and ministers to the police chief, to try and finally get the sclerotic programme to shift gear.

After the meeting, Karousos told reporters that the company handling the cameras will receive a warning from the government that it must fulfil its agreed obligations.

Asked if the government could terminate its contract with the company, Karousos said that: “If one of the two partners in a contract does not abide by their terms, then it is severed” – but added that there have recently been significant improvements.

The minister stressed that the cameras are “here to stay” as they help improve road safety, saying that studies show road deaths to have been reduced by up to 50 per cent in areas where cameras are implemented.

Karousos said that further meetings between the transport and justice ministries, and the company will hopefully iron out the kinks which are preventing the smooth issuance of the fines.

“I hope that by the end of the month all the issues are resolved, because if they’re not sorted then we will not be able to proceed with the first phase,” he said, adding that the president will chair another meeting before the end of the month.

The pilot phase began in October 2021 with just four stationary cameras active, a period which was initially only set to last for three months. But since then, local media reported that over half of the almost 90,000 violations which have been recorded have not had their subsequent fines sent out.

But Karousos on Wednesday hit back at those figures, stating that confirmed violations currently total 62,752 of which 47,192 have either been sent out or will be issued in the next five days. Specifically, about 38,000 have been sent out, he said, with the remaining 9,200 to be issued within a week.

However, that still leaves a considerable chunk of 15,000 fines which must be handled.

“For these, solutions and instructions have been given to the company on how to deal with them,” he said, adding that a decision will be made by the end of the month as to whether the system can finally exit its pilot phase.

Issues plaguing the camera system are varied, but a major hurdle is that the company is having difficulties issuing fines due a driver’s details appearing in different forms and not matching across the government databases.

The transport minister explained that the government is seeking to address this issue, too, as part of its wider and longer-term approach. He said that the legislation may also have to be changed so that the deputy research and innovation ministry can update and connect the databases so that there are no inconsistencies across the various departments. He conceded, however, that some changes may take longer than others, hinting that such an overhaul to the databases are not on the cards any time soon.

Just last month, it was reported that 11,000 fines were deemed invalid by the company, which subsequently asked that they be rescinded.

But Karousos on Wednesday instead stated that those are not in fact fines but are violations which were recorded but did not meet the criteria for a fine.

“Many of those were photographs captured as part of a trial run, before a camera is put in to use it must carry out some tests and many of those 11,000 recordings were such tests,” he said, adding that other recordings concerned ambulances, scooters, and bicycles.

He said that some recordings were of vehicles without licence plates and as such they cannot be fined. Pressed on that point, Karousos said that since the cameras are automated, they are not able to track down such an offence, a matter which is instead handled by police officers when they identify such an incident.

Karousos had previously told daily Phileleftheros that the reasons given by the company are that there were issues with visibility in the photographs of the 11,000 recordings. It said that key details such as the vehicle’s registration plate not being clear.

Speaking on Wednesday, he referred to other nations – namely Wales and England – where many violations are also unable to be processed, with about one sixth of such offences not being penalised for various reasons.

Karousos was also quoted as saying that the company managing the cameras has so far not received any payments due to the ongoing issues.

Those involved with the camera system say it is impossible to progress into the first phase, which sets out for a further 20 stationary units, as the system is already overwhelmed with just four.