Over 8,000 drivers caught committing traffic infractions by Mexico City’s photoradar system have been ordered to take driver safety courses either online or in person.

Of the 8,400 who have been sentenced to take the courses, around 5,600 have taken and passed the basic online course. Another 2,280 have taken the intermediate online course, and 600 have attended the in-person course.

The director of traffic safety and monitoring for the city’s Mobility Secretariat (Semovi), Valentina Delgado, said that in the June-September period of 2019 traffic infractions recorded in monitored areas decreased by 28% compared to the same period in 2018.

The system assigns each driver 10 points every six months. Points are subtracted when the system catches a driver committing an infraction, and if a driver loses all 10 points in a semester, he or she must take a driver safety course in order to pass the biannual vehicle inspection.

Punishable offenses include speeding, going against traffic, running red lights, making illegal turns, encroaching on areas meant for cyclists, motorcyclists and/or pedestrians, using a cellphone while driving, not wearing a seat belt and driving with a child in the front seat, among others.

Each infraction costs a driver one point, except in the case of exceeding the speed limit by more than 40%, for which five points are subtracted.

The first two times a driver runs out of points are met with warnings. The basic online course is mandated after the third time, the intermediate after the fourth, and the in-person course is required for those who are penalized a fifth time. Community service is ordered to those who are penalized a sixth time.

Source: El Sol de México (sp)