UK town to use traffic lights to tackle speeding

Swindon in the UK is set to trial smart traffic lights which turn to red if approaching drivers are breaking the speed limit. Sensors will detect speeding vehicles and if they are above a preset limit then the signals ahead will turn to red. If congestion builds up then the traffic light phasing will change automatically to allow more traffic through the junction. ANPR systems will detect emergency vehicles and ensure they are not inhibited by the system.
April 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSSwindon in the UK is set to trial smart traffic lights which turn to red if approaching drivers are breaking the speed limit. Sensors will detect speeding vehicles and if they are above a preset limit then the signals ahead will turn to red. If congestion builds up then the traffic light phasing will change automatically to allow more traffic through the junction. ANPR systems will detect emergency vehicles and ensure they are not inhibited by the system.

In 2009, Swindon became the first local authority in the UK to switch off all of its speed cameras in response to budget cuts from central government, a move that has been copied by several other authorities. Interestingly, it is reported that since then, accidents both at the camera sites, and in the town as a whole, have dropped.

“We welcome trials of technologies other than cameras to deter speeding drivers and this sort of system is already extensively used in Spain and Portugal,” commented Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the 4961 RAC Foundation. “But will the odd red light be enough of a deterrent to change the behaviour of persistent offenders?
Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • M62 managed motorway scheme signs switched on
    February 12, 2013
    Work to upgrade part of the M62 in West Yorkshire to a managed motorway, the first scheme in the Yorkshire and Humber region, reached a significant milestone when the first overhead electronic signs went live. For the first time, the variable advisory speed limit signs have come into operation between junctions 27 and 28 to allow the UK Highways Agency to calibrate and test the technology required for the new managed motorway, with the signs being switched on and off in response to traffic conditions. Advis
    Read More
  • AMG system deployed for India’s inaugural Formula One grand prix
    April 17, 2012
    AMG Systems has revealed that it supplied its AMG 5000 transmission solution for the new Indian Formula One circuit which hosted the inaugural Indian Formula One grand prix on 30 October, 2011. Indian based Pan Intellecom is responsible for implementing the surveillance project for the F1 event and managing director Harbir Singh explains why the company chose the AMG transmission solution. “We selected the AMG 5000 Series for the project and although we were very pressed for time leading up to the inaugural
    Read More
  • Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS announce strategic partnership
    October 24, 2012
    Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS are to enter into a strategic partnership that will combine Navtech’s expertise in millimetre-wave wide-area surveillance technology with Vysionics’ machine vision-based Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and average speed measurement competencies.Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS are to enter into a strategic partnership that will combine Navtech’s expertise in millimetre-wave wide-area surveillance technology with Vysionics’ machine vision-based Automatic Number Plate
    Read More
  • Deaths up and road safety spending down in England
    July 12, 2012
    Fifty local councils in England saw more than a ten per cent increase in killed and seriously injured (KSI) crash rates between 2010 and 2011, according to an Institute for Advanced Motorists (IAM) analysis of the new road accident figures. The biggest increases in KSI numbers were in St Helens – 62 per cent, Portsmouth – 57 per cent, Stoke on Trent – 57 per cent, and Coventry – 51 per cent. A further 76 councils saw increases in the KSI rate above the national average of two per cent.
    Read More

Highlighted Content