In an attempt to end the hide-and-seek surrounding mobile speed cameras, the President of the Movement of Ecologists, Stavros Papadouris, tabled a bill before today’s plenary session of the House of Representatives to amend existing legislation so that the 20 vans transporting the mobile cameras are required to have an activated light signal on their roof – that is, a beacon – while conducting speed checks.
Specifically, the bill aims to amend the Law on Road Traffic Offences (Use of Photographic Detection Devices and Other Related Matters), so that vehicles transporting mobile photo-detection devices are visibly recognisable when carrying out checks.
According to Mr Papadouris, the regulation is deemed necessary both due to the risks to road safety created by the current practice and for reasons of unobstructed visual contact for passing drivers. As he notes, “the philosophy of the law from the very beginning was not for speed checks to function as a money collector, but in favour of driver safety”.
It is recalled that another bill is still pending before Parliament, submitted by DISY MP Nikos Georgiou, proposing that the Police pre-announce the areas where the 20 mobile cameras will be placed and operated.
This article was originally published on the Greek-language Politis website.