traffic

Welcome to Cyprus traffic violations

OVER 2,000 traffic violations were recorded last weekend by two fixed speed cameras installed on Grivas Dhigenis avenue in Nicosia.

Just give it a minute to sink in. Two thousand violations. In only two days. Recorded by only two fixed cameras (fixed means people know where and when they are). These numbers are mind-blowing. And yet what does the police decide? Here’s what:

Deputy head of the Electromechanical Services Department (ESD) Loucas Timotheou said that no one would be prosecuted or fined, for now.

I think this basically explains the attitude towards the traffic laws. Furthermore:

Timotheou told the Cyprus Mail that the weekend traffic violations caught by the cameras could add up to €100,000 in fines. “Of course, it’s not about the money. It’s about protecting people and making drivers obey traffic laws,” he said.

Two things that catch my attention here are:

Isn’t Cyprus trying to survive a bad economy, scrubbing for money everywhere? Why 100K in two days is completely ignored?
How exactly are you protecting people by recording videos of violators and not issuing fines?

Deadly traffic accident

As I was walking from the office today, I heard squeaking of the brakes, then a terrifying scream, and then silence. The crowd gathered immediatly. People were calling the police. Someone shouted for the doctor. I made my way through and saw that it was too late. She was dead…

Traffic jam of the year

Every time I complain about getting stuck in a major traffic jam for 20 minutes, my Moscow friends are laughing at me. They say that I have no right to complain about 20 minutes, when they spend hours waiting in traffic. And that’s on a daily basis. It’s not anything out of the ordinary to spend 3 hours on your way to work and another 3 on your way back home in the traffic jam in Moscow. But today I heard something that makes those 3 hour traffic jam sound like nothing.

Picture this: an epic traffic jam in China, where some people are stuck now for nine days! It’s been there for so long, that there are businesses starting up around this whole mess. And some people go as far as to call it a temporary settlement.

Via kottke.