|
HOT on the heels of mobile
speed cameras comes a new weapon in the police armoury against the
TRNC's [Northern Cyprus] poor and law-flouting drivers.
Fixed cameras are to be sited on main roads to catch
speeding motorists, the prime cause of the country's road accidents.
Representatives of the Netherlands-based International Road
Safety Association were in North Cyprus this week to help in
locating, installing and operating the "Gatsometer" cameras.
Interior Minister [of Northern Cyprus] Ozkan Murat said
plans were also being pursued to set up a branch of the association
in North Cyprus, in line with an agreement reached in June.
Mr Murat, greeting the representatives, stressed that the
association was a non-governmental organisation set up under UN
criteria, the aim of which was "to establish branches in different
countries and to provide assistance on traffic control".
|
It provided know-how and
information on the latest technology relating to traffic, and it was
important for the TRNC [Northern Cyprus] to benefit from such
professional groups as it tried to reduce the number of fatal road
accidents.
In spite of increased fines and penalties, new
driving school regulations, an increase in the number of traffic
police, and the introduction of mobile cameras, said Mr Murat,
accidents were still happening [in Northern Cyprus].
"Even
with all these measures, sadly we still hear about fatal accidents
and the number is as high as last year."
But Mr Murat
pointed to a fall in the level of road fatalities in countries where
fixed cameras were in use, and expressed confidence that the same
effect would be seen in the TRNC [Northern Cyprus].
|
