“We do not use toll gates in this way. The social media post in question is nonsense,” Ondřej Moravčík, a spokesman for the Czech Police Presidium, told Garáž.cz, which reported that rumors circulating online claim officers use cameras mounted on highway toll gantries to catch drivers and passengers committing other offenses, such as not wearing seat belts or using a phone while driving.
The report, published by Garáž.cz, found one man who says he was fined as a passenger after police showed him a tablet displaying a photo of him without a seat belt, allegedly captured by a toll gate camera. The man disputed the offense, went to administrative proceedings, and ultimately admitted guilt and paid the fine. Garáž.cz said it obtained a photograph purportedly from the case file intended to confirm that evidence came from a toll gantry, but it could not obtain the full file or verify the photo’s authenticity.
Two Anonymous Sources Describe Access to the Cameras
Garáž.cz also spoke with two people who asked to remain anonymous. One was verified to work for the police; the employment of the second could not be confirmed. Both independently told the outlet that, in the course of their duties, they connect to the toll gantry cameras and use the resulting photographs to check drivers.
A debate on the topic also unfolded in the comments of the Facebook page Sníženo.cz, where some posts confirmed the practice while others denied it.
Police Presidium Concedes Records Could Be Used Case by Case
After initially dismissing the claims, the Police Presidium offered a more nuanced answer. Spokeswoman Violeta Canoski confirmed Moravčík’s denial, stating that the camera system on toll gantries “is not primarily intended or used by the Police of the Czech Republic for the targeted search and punishment of drivers or passengers for not using seat belts or for holding a telephone or other communication device while driving.”
She said the system’s primary purpose is checking payment of time-based toll fees, verifying the validity of technical inspections, and searching for stolen cars or stolen license plates.
However, Canoski acknowledged that footage can be used under certain conditions. Image records of vehicles are part of the system, she said, and authorized persons can access them within the legally defined scope. It therefore cannot be generally ruled out that a recording made for another purpose could, in a specific case, be used as evidence in relation to other unlawful conduct — if that conduct clearly and provably follows from the recording.
“Such use is, however, individual, following the specific factual circumstances of the case, and does not represent systematic or automated searching for the mentioned offenses,” Canoski added.
No Automated Penalties — Yet
The police explicitly clarified that the system does not automatically evaluate offenses such as seat belt or phone use, nor does it automatically forward them to patrols or administrative bodies. Even a driver caught by a camera traveling without a highway vignette must currently be stopped and convicted by police or customs officers for an offense to be established.
Regarding Garáž.cz’s findings, the police said they could neither confirm nor refute information or evidence whose origin cannot be reliably verified. At the same time, Canoski noted that in specific administrative proceedings, various legally obtained means of evidence can be used, with their relevance and evidentiary value assessed individually by the competent administrative authority according to the circumstances of each case.
“In specific administrative proceedings, various legally obtained means of evidence can be used, and the relevant administrative authority assesses their relevance, evidentiary value and procedural usability individually according to the circumstances of the given case,” she said.
Primarily No — but the Door Stays Open
The bottom line, as Garáž.cz concluded: Czech police do not primarily use toll gantry cameras to convict drivers using phones or passengers without seat belts. But that does not mean it cannot happen in individual cases, or that an administrative body could not use such a photograph as evidence of an offense. A driver who passes a patrol without a seat belt could, for example, be checked at the nearest toll gantry — primarily for toll payment, but secondarily revealing the missing seat belt — after which being stopped and potentially fined is possible.
