Sounio Ave: bus driver identified from video

The Hellenic Police announced the identification of a 48-year-old bus driver on Tuesday 18 August, through the announcements of the Attica General Police Directorate. The woman, who is not named, appeared in a video circulating on popular social media platforms making an illegal U-turn with the bus on Athens–Sounio Avenue. In the wording of the announcement, the manoeuvre was carried out “with a serious risk of causing an accident”. The identification was made by officers of the Special Information and Social Network Analysis Team of the Attica Traffic Offences Control Group. Local coverage of the incident followed on Wednesday 19 August.

It did not become known which specific offences were recorded against the driver, nor the level of any fines imposed. Nor was the exact date and time at which the manoeuvre was recorded announced, nor the point on the avenue where it took place, nor whether the bus was operating a service with passengers at the moment of the recording. The driver is presumed innocent until judged by the competent bodies, while at the level of administrative penalties the new Highway Code provides for stricter sanctions for manoeuvres that endanger other road users, with an escalation where a driver of a professional vehicle is involved. The announcement does not clarify whether the case led to the opening of a case file or was confined to administrative penalties.

The Special Information and Social Network Analysis Team is a relatively new mechanism of the Attica Traffic Police. It draws on material posted by users on social media platforms — footage from dashcams, mobile phones or riders’ cameras — and, combining it with number plate and route data, arrives at the identification of drivers alleged to have committed serious offences. The method has already been used in several cases in Attica recently, from driving the wrong way to dangerous manoeuvres on urban arteries, and it shifts the detection of the offence from on-the-spot recording to after-the-fact analysis of material.

For eastern Attica the case has local significance, since Athens–Sounio Avenue runs along the coastal zone from Saronikos to Lavreotiki and takes on increased loads during the summer months from visitors, delivery vehicles and scheduled and excursion buses. It is an axis with many at-grade accesses to beaches, shops and settlements, where U-turns are a frequent cause of dangerous situations. It has not been announced whether the case was also forwarded to the employer or to the competent transport service for a check on the professional licence, nor whether further action against the driver is pending. The question that remains open for residents and drivers in the area is whether identifications of this kind will be accompanied by interventions on the axis itself, such as separating islands, controlled U-turn points and clearer signage. The Hellenic Police have not announced whether additional checks are planned on the avenue for the remainder of the summer season.