Enforcement

More than 400 new fixed speed cameras, including 25 radar sections and 90 cameras that can tell the difference between HGV vehicles and cars, will be installed in accident zones in France this year, the French interior minister Brice Hortefeux has said. The police force will be equipped with 326 devices for automatic number plate reading in 2011, and in the first part of the year there will also be a development programme for mounted, mobile radars that can control speed in traffic flow. The French governme

Motorists who speed, ignore red lights or drink and drive when in a European country other than their own will be brought to book more easily, thanks to closer cooperation between European police forces and EU-wide enforcement of traffic rules, under plans approved yesterday by the European Parliament's transport committee. However, the UK and Ireland decided not to opt in to the system, while Denmark is entitled to opt out because the Council changed the legal basis of the directive from "transport" to "po

Machine vision specialist Vitronic has announced it is supporting energy efficient and resource-saving production and automation processes as a partner company in the Blue Competence sustainability initiative of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). The scheme aims to create a closer network focused on sustainability among mechanical and plant engineering companies. In order to become a Blue Competence partner, companies need to fulfil clearly defined sustainability criteria and standards.

UK police forces are a step closer to having equipment to test motorists suspected of drug driving, Home Office Minister James Brokenshire announced today. The Home Office has produced the specification for a new police station-based drug screening device. The document sets out what the device will do and the standards it must meet.

Jenoptik's traffic solutions division has received a major order for systems and equipment for traffic monitoring from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The customer is Dallah Trans Arabia, located in Jeddah, and the scope of supply includes several hundred stationary systems for monitoring red light and speed violations. About 100 systems for mobile and stationary speed monitoring as well as a comprehensive software solution of Jenoptik have already been in use in Saudi Arabia since last year. The total equipme

Redflex shareholders rejected the bid by US-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group and Australia's major investment bank Macquarie Group to take over the traffic enforcement products and services specialist. Despite the Redflex board having unanimously recommended acceptance of the offer, which was AU$2.75-a-share, valuing the company at $303.5 million, the bid remained unsuccessful.

StarTraq, a UK-headquartered specialist in offence management, is today announcing its launch into the Asian market at Intertraffic China 2012, following the successful launch of its International Partner Programme in Europe earlier this year. The company aims to increase the global reach for its cloud-based software that automates repetitive processes, such as traffic offences.

UK company Traffic Technology Limited has announced significant speed reductions at the Lochhead Landfill site, in Scotland, following the deployment of four SIDs (Speed Indicator Devices) as part of on-going health and safety improvements. The devices are installed at the site entrance and at three other points on the main waste vehicle access route to detect and inform drivers of their speed. Since being installed, the units have been instrumental in greatly reducing speeding on the site. According to Pe

Poland’s traffic police have started to use portable long range cameras to spot if drivers are not wearing seat belts, are using cell phones, running red lights, transporting children without car seats, or driving with no visible licence plate or validation sticker. The cameras can be set up and remotely operated and controlled with an in-car laptop and are typically used at 50-150 metre distances. It means that, instead of using binoculars, officers can sit inside a police car, place the equipment on the s

Municipalities in the Czech Republic are increasingly deploying smart traffic lights with radar that detects the speed of approaching vehicles and turns the signal red to slow them down to the required speed limit. Currently there are about 100 installations because mayors believe they are more efficient than speed cameras or speed humps. According to one mayor, over 90 per cent of drivers slow down because of the technology. The traffic light system contains a microwave radar sensor which measures speed. I