Cameras: The government’s plan for the installation is presented

The government plan for the establishment cameras traffic, policing and citizen safety were presented on Thursday morning by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikourasthe Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidisthe Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou and the Regional Governor of Attica Nikos Hardalias.

The goal is for the new “smart” cameras to be operational in the summer of 2025. As the ministers explained, the cameras will record violations such as:

• exceeding the speed limit,
• the red light violation,
• using a mobile phone while driving,
• the illegal use of LEA,
• driving a vehicle without insurance,
• the circulation of a vehicle without a valid KTEO card,
• pedestrian crossing violation,
• not wearing a helmet and not wearing a seat belt.

Next calls will be verified by the traffic police and will are sent to citizens’ mailboxes at gov.gr while the payment and any objections will be able to be made digitally.

In particular, it is about 388 state-of-the-art red light monitoring cameras, with the aim of drastically reducing traffic accidents and their consequences which will be procured by the region of Attica with a contract signed a few days ago and the government will add another 1,000 cameras in Athens but also in other points indicated by ELAS.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Governance and the Ministry of Citizen Protection, the material will be automatically sent to a central infringement management server, while in order to respect the protection of personal data, only the rear of the vehicle will be recorded, so as not to distinguish the passengers.

Only the Greek Police will have exclusive access, imposing the prescribed penalties on the offenders, in accordance with what is defined by the Road Traffic Code.

“We hope that it will work preventively, prevent violations, help with immediate interventions and be a useful tool in clarifying cases,” said Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, who moderated the presentation.

Staikouras: “Upgrading road safety is an immediate priority”

First, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras pointed out that in the previous decade Greece showed the greatest reduction in the number of traffic victims due to modern motorways. “But this is not enough, as the number of vehicles on the roads is increasing and Greece has the highest rates of accidents with two-wheelers and four-wheelers.”

As he mentioned, the Ministry of Infrastructure has as an immediate priority the upgrading of road safety in order to reduce the number of traffic accidents and improve the quality of life of citizens.

“Its framework is being modernized COKE so that it is harmonized with the dangerousness of traffic violations”. Digital recording of infringements and a more efficient collection process are also underway

He even announced news Toll Service Road Infrastructure Management.

The new framework also provides for the mission to AADE after a certain period of overdue fines for the application of the Revenue Collection Code. At the same time, fines will also be managed electronically

The violations that will be verified digitally are:

• exceeding the speed limit
• red light violation
• using a mobile phone while driving
• illegal use of LEA
• driving a vehicle without insurance
• vehicle circulation without a valid KTEO card

“We are all involved in an effort and must do our part of the work and responsibility in order to strengthen the level of security in our country. Perhaps the shared European vision of zero road traffic fatalities by 2050 may seem utopian, but as long as we work methodically and in concert with this vision, every life gained is priceless.”

Chrysochoidis: “Cameras all over Attica and soon a proposal for Thessaloniki as well”

“Cameras will go all over the basin and soon there will be a proposal to install cameras in Thessaloniki, then revealed the Michalis Chrysochoidis.

The placement criteria are:

– vehicle traffic and better traffic management in Attica so that the management center can carry out activities that will help for better traffic management

– the critical points to identify criminal acts in order to clear them up

“From the first moment that I returned to the Ministry of Citizen Protection, the goal was to strengthen the forces of Traffic officer. An effort has been made, recently 200 police officers have joined the Traffic, the best choice of traffic department commanders has been made, daily use of two-wheelers has been added to traffic management for flexibility, drones are being used every day, DIAS and Immediate Action have been involved and increased checkpoints” said Mr. Chrysochoidis

According to the data he presented, there is an increase of over 70% in violations and penalties: “This year we have 326,000 while last year we had 193,000”.

“2024 was a catalyst year for the traffic police since 2006. However, the human factor cannot cover all criminal behavior. The solution is smart policing, the use of new technological means such as traffic cameras.”

“The solution is smart policing, the use of technology, the use of new technological means, such as traffic cameras and a number of other applications, so that together, Greek society, the administration can reduce this as much as possible the huge issue of the loss of human life and even young people that we mourn every day on our streets”. concluded Mr. Chrysochoidis.

Hardalias: “The smart cameras will work 24 hours a day – Red light violators will be recorded in the first phase”

The regional governor of Attica Nikos Hardalias for his part, he emphasized that “the issue of road safety, in general the issues related to urban mobility are a top priority for all of us. How much more that in Region of Attica we are asked to maintain a total of 1,733 kilometers of road network. I repeat this number 1,733 kilometers, which is almost the kilometer distance from Athens to Odessa. So 1,733 kilometers of road network, 108 bridges, 49 underpasses throughout the basin.”

The new smart cameras will work 24 hours a day, will also work in low light and will be placed at 100 key points following traffic instructions” as he said about the 388 cameras that the Region of Attica will purchase.

“I think the difficulty of our project is understandable. Therefore, the new smart cameras come to help. They will work around the clock, even in low light conditions. They will be placed in 100 key points throughout the basin, following the suggestion of the competent Attica Traffic Services and they aspire to mitigate or even better to reverse the negative reality that we see prevailing on the roads” added Mr. Hardalias.

“With their operation, the violators of the red light will be recorded in the first phase, aiming not only at the immediate suppression of this particularly dangerous violation, but also at prevention through deterrence.”

“When drivers know that their offenses are being recorded, they will be much more likely to comply with the rules of the Road Traffic Code. Ladies and gentlemen, as I pointed out during the signing of the contract, at the Traffic Management Center of the Attica Region, a few days ago, with the installation of 388 smart cameras, we do not aim to impose fines but to create a safe road network, preventing dangerous violations that they put drivers, passengers and pedestrians at risk every day, especially within the urban fabric” noted the regional governor of Attica.

Papastergiou: “These violations will be recorded”

Finally, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergioustarted by presenting the current framework which results in the payment of a traffic violation being made up to 10 years later, while, as he said, there is also a big problem with vehicles with foreign license plates and rental vehicles.

Today we have 12 fixed speed cameras from OASA and 17 on Attiki Odos. The cameras will record speed limit, red light violation, crosswalk violation, failure to wear a helmet, cell phone use, failure to use a seat belt, as well as a CTEO check.

The contractor will not be paid based on the cameras he installed but based on the number of them working. The competition will run until the end of January 2025

In addition, the minister informed that the tender process for the cameras will be on concession for a decade. “In essence, we are asking the contractors to supply the cameras, the technical characteristics of which will be specified in the issues we are currently working on, but they will also have the maintenance and operation. The contractor will not be paid by the number of cameras he simply installed, but by the number of cameras that work, and that is because it could not be the job of the Traffic Police to run and maintain cameras. This will be the contractor’s job. The tender will be published until the end of January 2025”.

Referring to the information system which is equally important, he pointed out that the purpose is to understand that the whole system is put in place to work immediately and for the citizen to know if he has violated a term of the Road Traffic Code or not.

“So our goal is to create and implement the system when you commit a violation, for example you run a red light, you will receive an SMS on the mobile phone that is registered in the communication register, which will say that you are being checked for such a violation . Why is it controlled? Because violations should be confirmed by police bodies. So when this happens in the information system, a recording will be made with all the corresponding material, photos and videos”.

Finally, Mr. Papastergiou said that “the call will go to mailbox of the citizen. In fact, by the end of the year, our mailbox will also be in a prominent place in the wallet. The one we have anyway and is already legislated.”

“The citizen will be able to see evidence of the offense he has committed. He can dispute that it wasn’t him or he doesn’t consider that he didn’t run a red light, make the objection electronically. So here we come to relieve the police, the traffic police from all this burden of having people and of course the citizens, who are waiting in the corridors to see the officers and raise their objections. And of course, if they want, they can also make contact with the officer or with a responsible person from the Traffic. And this via video conference so that he doesn’t have to move.”