Very soon, we’ll see something new on Cypriot streets as part of a pilot program. A camera powered by artificial intelligence will be installed on a trial basis—its lights will flash whenever someone is talking on a cell phone.

In the first phase, the system will be installed at a fixed location on a road in the Nicosia district. It will begin recording to demonstrate its effectiveness.

“We want to identify drivers who break the law and endanger everyone else. It will be able to detect if you are using a cell phone while driving.”
Alexis Vafeadis – Minister of Transport

It remains to be seen whether the camera can actually detect a driver using a cell phone without that driver having committed any other traffic violation. So far, illegal cell phone use can only be detected incidentally, provided that a driver is recorded by existing cameras either for speeding or for other violations involving a redtraffic light.

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“I expect the relevant agency to tell us when the first pilot camera will be installed. An announcement will follow; this won’t be done in secret—it will be done very, very openly,” he said.”
Alexis Vafeadis

The remarks were made this morning at the inauguration of the new roundabout in Protaras.

Watch Evangelos Agapios’s report: