"Smart" cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) are already monitoring traffic at eight major intersections in the region around the Greek capital Athens and recording all violations. The trial phase of the project began in December 2025, and the system has been operating since the end of January. The German “Tageszeitung“ reports on it.
The new cameras work with advanced AI algorithms that can register various violations, such as running a red light and speeding, driving without a seat belt, talking on a mobile phone without a “hands-free“ device. Or if motorcyclists are not wearing a protective helmet. Violations are displayed in real time on a screen in the control center.
Violators will be registered quickly
The aim of the new digital system is to significantly increase the number of registered violations of the traffic regulations in Greece, and to radically shorten the time for their processing, the publication notes. The fines will be published directly on the gov.gr portal. Violators will also receive text messages on their phones. Apart from this, they will also have access to images documenting the violation.
A 13-day period is provided for an appeal, which will be made online. Fines will also be paid electronically. The fines and penalty points will be automatically entered into the Greek Central Register of Traffic Offences (SESO), and the withdrawal of the right to drive can now also be done digitally, the “Tageszeitung“ also informs.
Even during the pilot phase, the AI cameras have registered a huge number of violations. In just four days in December, one of the eight AI cameras in Attica recorded over 1,000 violations, mainly talking on a mobile phone or driving without a seat belt, as well as around 800 speeding violations. These were not sanctioned, but from now on there will be no forgiveness, and fine messages will be sent digitally.
There is also dissatisfaction
The new measures are polarizing and generating dissatisfaction among drivers in Athens, the report makes clear. "If you can't drive properly, you won't be able to. People need to be trained better," Vassilis Vassiliopoulos, 58, who drives an old Renault, told the German publication. Michalis Doukas, 38, from Athens, agrees: "I want to see first whether this system works at all. Artificial intelligence also makes mistakes. What if I get a fine while I'm using one of the control screens that my new car is equipped with?" he says.
Thanos Mavris sees things differently: The 29-year-old taxi driver thinks that the AI cameras are a good thing. "The fear of fines works. Most people in Athens earn around 750-800 euros a month. Who would risk being fined 350 euros for driving without a seat belt or helmet, or for talking on a mobile phone?“, he says.
Mavris, who spends ten hours a day behind the wheel, claims that the positive effect of the installation of AI cameras is already being felt: “Before, half of the drivers drove without a seat belt, and now almost no one can afford it anymore. Almost all motorcyclists now wear helmets. It was completely different before,“, says the taxi driver.
A huge number of deaths
But the battle to reduce accidents on the streets will not be fought only with AI cameras. By June, 388 new cameras specially designed to record violations of running red lights will be installed in the Greek capital area. The funding is provided by EU funds. Nearly 2,500 new cameras will appear across the country, including 2,000 permanent ones that will monitor traffic in areas with a high concentration of traffic accidents, as well as 500 cameras in public transport that will monitor violators driving in bus lanes.
In 2024, 665 road deaths were recorded in Greece, and in 2025 - 522. This places Greece in third place in the EU - after Romania and Bulgaria - in the number of road deaths per population. The cameras with artificial intelligence are expected to improve road discipline, which would save lives, says the publication of “Tageszeitung“.