Cameras will be ticketing errant city drivers

Errant Panama City drivers tempted to jump traffic lights will soon find themselves under surveillance, and ticketed as the Transport Authority (ATTT) moves to install  78  cameras at key junctions.

The first  “test” camera is in place at a traffic light in El Dorado near the Church of the Holy Trinity), and has already copped its first offenders says  ATTT  Director, Miguel Martínez.

He said the camera records everything that happens at that traffic light, “We want to see how drivers react.,”.

“In the coming months we will be working on the photo fines […] we will charge 100% [of the amount of the penalty],” he added. All proceeds will be in favor of the ATTT.

The equipment managed by the ATTT will be monitored by the Video Surveillance Center, located in the La Lotería building.

In the sectors where the cameras are placed  ATTT  inspectors of the entity will also be placed, to verify that the sensors of the cameras work correctly.

Martinez said they will be vigilant so that drivers do not stop their vehicles on safety lines, stay under traffic lights or drive at high speed. He stressed that before sending the fines, the videos will be reviewed by the inspectors.

Drivers will be hit with a $100 fine for ignoring a red light; $50, for excessive speed, and $20, for ignoring a pedestrian safety line.

Fines against offenders will be notified via email, WhatsApp messaging and even by phone call.

Emails will be provided by Servicios de Tgreso Centroamericanos, SA (Sertracen), Martínez said.

The cameras – which will take photos of the plates of the offenders – will be located on 24 platforms in different sectors of the capital.

In the coming days, the ATTT will release the location map of the cameras. “We want to ensure that the transport service will be inspected” and that there will be coordination with the traffic police, he said.

Failed history
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Justice declared the contract signed between the ATTT and a company for the collection of the infringements null and void. The contract established that the concessionaire would have the camera service for “speed control, issuance of speeding violations and other related services.”

Martínez described as a “distortion” the concession granted to the company, with links to Ricardo Martinelli in 2011, which would charge 65% of the amount of the fine. “That’s crazy,” he said.