Enforcement

The UK government has pledged £350,000 to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to run a competition for companies to develop roadside evidential breathalysers. Although drivers are currently tested at the roadside in some cases, the breath test there is only used as an indicator of wrongdoing. The government’s stated aim is to prevent offenders who are marginally over the drink-drive limit from sobering up before reaching the police station where they are tested for evidence in court.

EU countries will need to switch to distance-based road use charges for trucks and buses in 2023 and for cars in 2026. The European Parliament’s Transport Committee has voted on new amendments in a bid to meet emission reduction targets and make charges fairer. Distance-based charging is intended to ensure vehicles are charged according to actual road use and pollution generated. The rule will also apply to goods vans over 2.4 tonnes from 2022. EU countries would need to set different road charging ra

Car-sharing group Car2Go is suspending operations in Toronto, Canada, because of what it sees as restrictive regulations introduced by the city’s authorities. Toronto City Council is introducing its own free-floating carshare pilot on June 1 which Car2Go says makes its service ‘inoperable’. In a letter to users, Car2Go’s North America CEO Paul DeLong says that companies taking part in Toronto’s new pilot will be charged $1,499.02 per vehicle and that many streets which operate a residents’ parking permit

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is taking part in a seat belt enforcement programme to boost safety for car drivers and passengers in the state. The Click It or Ticket initiative will run until 3 June. Pennsylvania law requires drivers and passengers younger than 18 to wear seat belts when inside a vehicle. Older drivers and passengers must wear a seat belt when behind the wheel or in the front passenger seat.

Bus manufacturer New Flyer of America will deploy ten Xcelsior hydrogen fuel cell electric, heavy-duty transit buses to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The order is intended to expand zero-emission public transportation across California. The forty-foot vehicles will operate in Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana and Westminster. New Flyer and OCTA are partners in the Fuel Cell Electric Bus Commercialization Consortium project, which aims to establish these vehicles as an industry

Kapsch TrafficCom is celebrating after a landmark patent decision went in its favour. The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has agreed with the company that Neology cannot patent technologies in its 6C switchable tolling tag. The tag uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at highway toll zones, and is manually activated and deactivated using a switch device. The PTAB agreed with Kapsch’s arguments that Neology’s claims for its product were “unpatentable and invalid”. The decision reinf

Authorities will have to introduce strict regulations to ensure the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads, according to a white paper published by Utrecht-based company 2getthere. Called Safety in Autonomous Transit, the report states that authorities should set more firm conditions on road safety, reliability and availability of these vehicles and also for the spatial planning of public areas where AVs operate. 2getthere highlights that governments will have to set tighter

French safety agency La Sécurité Routière has proposed that autonomous vehicles (AVs) should be made to pass a standard driving test before deployment on roads – according to a report by The European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL). Through the proposed test, AVs would be set to autopilot mode and be required to participate in a driving examination. Manoeuvres, different driving speeds, parking and navigation would all be under scrutiny.

Ertico Ertico has welcomed the mandatory installation of eCall in all new car and light vehicle models in Europe which will come into effect this month. The company, according to its chief executive officer Jacob Bangsgaard, has acted as one of the driving forces behind the discussion of equipping vehicles with emergency call service since 2001. Bangsgaard said: “Thanks to our diverse Partnership, we ensured cross-sectoral discussions and cooperation which was fundamental for reaching consensus towards

California-based Vigilant Solutions (Vigilant) has launched a license plate-enabled parking (LEP) enforcement solution that uses vehicle location data to assist parking agencies and municipal parking units in enforcing policies and collecting outstanding fines. The platform is coupled with the company’s commercial data network to help parking enforcement work more efficiently with local police officers to address violations involving on-street and off-street lots. Vigiliant’s LEP device is said to offer