Skip to main content

Czech Republic deploying smart traffic lights to combat speeding

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
May 4, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSMunicipalities 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. If an approaching vehicle is travelling at lower than 50km/h, the light changes to orange and then green. If it is higher, the light remains red.

"The speeding driver sees the red and the throttles back. Red lasts until the car has achieved the required speed," explains Radomil Saiml Autron, the company which has supplied Czech municipalities with more than fifty of the new traffic lights.

Europe’s increasing use of this technology, which is widely deployed in Spain and Portugal, was the subject of a recent ITS International feature article - Traffic signals turn red to stop speeding drivers – by David Crawford which is available at this link.

Related Content

  • Here’s why WiM is value for money
    January 23, 2025
    Weigh in Motion systems are not new. What is new is their ability to collect more data and – importantly – more accurate data about axle loading and vehicle weight. Despite the obvious benefits, including safer highways and possibility of automated legal weight enforcement, obstacles remain for faster uptake. David Arminas reports on the manufacturers’ perspective…
  • VRU safety report urges enforcement
    March 18, 2020
    Enforcement must be at the heart of a drive to reduce vulnerable road user deaths and injuries, says the latest report from the European Transport Safety Council. Its facts and figures give authorities the justification to invest more in camera technology and other ITS solutions
  • Redflex launches all-in-one traffic enforcement, variable speed detection/enforcement
    February 29, 2016
    Intertraffic Amsterdam 2016 sees the launch of Redflex Traffic Systems’ newest traffic enforcement solution. The company claims the system uses the most advanced image technology the enforcement market has seen to deliver detection rates up to five times higher than competitor products, from within a single housing. Redflex says the system can deliver accurate enforcement of red light; speed; mobile phone use; bus lanes; average speed; close following, ANPR; gridlock and wrong-way driving, to name a few.
  • Would Americans support increased taxes to improve highways, streets, and transit?
    June 22, 2012
    The Mineta National Transit Research Consortium has released a peer-reviewed research report, What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 3 of a National Survey. that summarises the results of a national random-digit-dial public opinion poll that asked 1,519 respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues. Special focus was placed on understanding what would motivate pe