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

  • Traffic cameras embrace AI
    December 19, 2022
    Artificial intelligence is spreading into many aspects of mobility – but what about traffic management and enforcement cameras? ITS International invited a few vision experts to ponder a couple of leading questions…
  • Camera catches nearly 700 dangerous drivers 
    March 1, 2022
    Jenoptik camera in Cornwall, England, does not require 'tiger teeth' road markings 
  • Priority boosts ridership and cuts congestion
    May 4, 2016
    Transit priority is proving a win-win in Europe and Australia. David Crawford reports. Technology that integrates with the Australian-originated Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) is driving bus signal priority and performance analysis initiatives on both sides of the world; in its homeland, with a major deployment in 2015, and in the capital of the Republic of Ireland.
  • Iteris tackles scourge of red light crashes
    September 19, 2022
    A 2019 AAA survey reported that 31% of drivers admitted to running a red light within the last 30 days. When vehicles dangerously accelerate upon approaching a stable green signal, what if you could hold the opposing traffic’s red light until the offending vehicle was safely through the intersection? Now you can.