Tens of thousands of Romanian drivers made the effort to install an on-board video camera in their car. In some countries, they are mandatory. Unfortunately, the Romanian authorities have just made a radical decision regarding them.
If you have made an investment of a few hundred lei in an on-board video camera, to have a proof when another traffic participant decides to break the law, know that you did it in vain. The rooms in question are absolutely useless on the streets of Romania. This is Parliament’s final decision. Authorities rejected a law that would have allowed police officers to impose fines based on footage of traffic.
Car camcorders, useless in Romania
In the context of the internet being riddled with viral recordings of traffic irregularities, Parliament’s decision to ban film-based fines will have disastrous long-term consequences. For example, from this month onwards, those who are aggressive in traffic should be penalized in a number of circumstances. If fines can only be imposed when people are seen by traffic police, the likelihood that the new law will even be reflected in sanctions tends to zero.
The main argument is that the footage can be modified relatively easily by computerized means, and the police do not have the skills to check this. “The notifications coming from the traffic participants can contain a high degree of subjectivism, to have a vindictive substratum. The current level of information technology would easily allow the alteration of video recordings. By making the montage so that the premise of abusive and illegal sanctioning would be created in the context in which the traffic policemen do not have attributions or competences in certifying the veracity of these video recordings. ”
Police officials are disappointed with the rejection of the bill. “I give you another example, with the flashes. How do you prove that? Traffic near a car. How do you prove it? You can not. So you see? Unless the cop is there. What are you doing, you go and tell him, this one was driving behind me, at a very short distance? Who takes him into account and how can the policeman apply the sanction? ”, Says Lucian Diniță, former head of the Road Department.