Skip to main content

Spain may use drones for traffic monitoring

Spain’s highway agency and technology company Sistemas y Montajes Industriales are developing unmanned drones to monitor traffic on public highways and may have drones ready to come into operation from next year, according to Euroweekly News. Alberto de Laorden, the director of Sistems, was at the Seventh National Road Safety Congress in Valencia and confirmed that the prototype is on course to be ready by next year. Laorden spoke about the advantages of the aircraft at the Congress, “Much cheaper tha
November 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Spain’s highway agency and technology company Sistemas y Montajes Industriales are developing unmanned drones to monitor traffic on public highways and may have drones ready to come into operation from next year, according to Euroweekly News.

Alberto de Laorden, the director of Sistems, was at the Seventh National Road Safety Congress in Valencia and confirmed that the prototype is on course to be ready by next year.

Laorden spoke about the advantages of the aircraft at the Congress, “Much cheaper than a helicopter and faster to deploy, drones could be used to monitor problem areas such as zones affected by floods or other natural disaster.”

The aircraft could be fitted with cameras to detect issues with road surfaces, recognise number plates and record traffic violations he said.

At the moment legislation demands that the operator keep the drone within sight which would make it impossible for the aircraft to be used to track hundreds of kilometres of motorways.

Related Content

  • Towards intelligent road infrastructure
    October 8, 2021
    A digital transformation is happening in the world today and the result is that Europe’s transport infrastructure, and also the car industry are experiencing revolutionary changes. Jēkabs Krastiņš looks at the challenges and plots the road ahead.
  • Developing ‘next generation’ traffic control centre technology
    July 4, 2012
    The Rijkswaterstaat and Highways Agency have joined forces to investigate what the market can do to realise an idealistic vision for traffic control centre technology. Jon Masters reports One particular seminar session of the Intertraffic show in Amsterdam in March was notably over subscribed. So heavy was the press to attend that your author, making his way over late from another appointment, could not get in and found himself craning over other heads locked outside to overhear what was being said. The
  • Driver aids make inroads on improving safety
    November 12, 2015
    In-vehicle anti-collision systems continue to evolve and could eliminate some incidents altogether. John Kendall rounds up the current developments. A few weeks ago, I watched a driver reverse a car from a parking bay at right angles to the road, straight into a car driving along the road. The accident happened at walking pace, no-one was hurt and both cars had body panels that regain their shape after a low speed shunt.
  • AI bus camera tech stops overtaking
    September 1, 2022
    Conduent Transportation and Hayden AI partner to improve safety for schoolchildren