Algeria: “Electronic Records Soon To Deter Reckless Drivers”

In the next few days, the National Security Services will begin work on a new system for monitoring drivers and road users, known as the “Video Violations Monitoring System”, in which traffic violations will be monitored in real time and electronically, as part of the policy to reduce road accidents, in implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The move is aimed at finding serious and radical solutions to road “terrorism”, which has become an obsession that haunts the state and Algerians alike.
In the exclusive details revealed by the Director of Public Security at the General Directorate of National Security, First Brigadier General of Police, Ahmed Nait Hocine, to “Echorouk”, he explained that this system will enter into force immediately after amending Law 14/01 related to traffic, safety and security 14/01, which currently exists at the level of the General Secretariat of Government, which includes an article that allows security interests to resort to technical means to monitor violations remotely.
The new system, says Nait Hocine, is based on the system of surveillance cameras that have been installed in many states of the country, such as Algiers, Ghardaïa, Oran, Annaba and other states of the country, as in this context, the Directorate of Technical Means of the General Directorate of National Security, has developed applications to take advantage of these cameras to remotely monitor violations committed by the driver, such as stopping and standing, driving in the opposite direction, dangerous maneuvers, excessive speed and other traffic violations.
And on how to monitor violations through these cameras, the Director of Public Security at the General Directorate of National Security explained that this new system exploits the “video” snapshot as conclusive evidence of a traffic violation, by controlling and monitoring the vehicle number plate, indicating that this system is connected to the card system.
The local gray cards, where the competent security authorities are provided with all data and information written about the vehicle and its owner, such as “name, surname, address”, so that an “electronic” report on the traffic violation is issued and sent directly, to the residence of the offending driver.
In addition, the same security officer confirmed that the implementation of the new system will allow the operational units of National Security at the level of control centers to reduce the time and monitor hundreds of thousands of traffic violations, and raise conclusive evidence for the perpetrators of violations in audio and video, as well as the name, surname, address, type of vehicle and the date of committing the traffic violation.
Nait Hocine also emphasized that this “system” will inevitably lead to a reduction in road accidents and to the discipline of reckless drivers and “speed lovers” who will practice “self-censorship” on themselves instead of being subject to the control of police officers deployed on the roads. The withdrawal of driving licenses and the previous deterrent measures have not been successful in restoring the senses of the drivers who turn the roads into a “bloody theater” that claims thousands of lives every year.